About Us

Founder

 Laura is a freelance artist and singer/ songwriter who studied illustration at Maryland Institute College of Art and Art Education at Towson University. Currently the Director of Programming at Maryland Hall in Annapolis, MD, she oversees many youth arts programs. Prior to this work, she worked as a Middle School Visual Arts Teacher as well as an Arts Integration Specialist. She is passionate about using the arts as a pathway for learning and is committed to providing dynamic programming for youth. She has presented at three national conferences about the healing power of arts. She is also an accomplished songwriter and musician and has released four albums under her name and her band Lily and the Pearl. She currently homeschools her 2 year old daughter and her 4 year old daughter. 

Founder and Nature Teacher

Stephanie Smith is a School Librarian and Media Specialist with a Master of Library and Information Science from the iSchool at University of Maryland, College Park and an SL Certification for grades K-12.   She was led to this path by her passion for children’s literature and the potential it has to spark a child’s imagination, curiosity, and contribute to their world view.  She further found her calling within this profession as it allows her to guide young individuals to learn how “to learn” and create their own knowledge through research and reading.   Stephanie has written Library Media curriculum for her school district for 9 years with the goal to ensure the program empowers students to become lifelong discoverers.   

Stephanie is mother to a son and daughter of her own who she loves to help experience the world through play, making, and exploration.  Every day she tries to give them the opportunity and the space to embark on these adventures (and hopes she can come along too).  

Immersive Spanish and Visual Arts Teacher

Glory Paredes is a bilingual visual artist and teacher living in Annapolis since 2004. Born in El Salvador, art has been part of her life ever since she was 7 years old when she began creating. She attended the House of Culture of El Salvador, where she took classes alongside painters and artisans. Glory studied Graphic Design and Programming at the Center of Technical  Studies and Computing (CETEC-Plus) El Salvador.
She draws and paints portraits, animals, and landscapes in oil,  acrylic, pencil, charcoal on canvas, wood or paper. Glory has participated in exhibitions in Multi-Cultural Festivals, salvadorian Consulate of SilverSprint, galleries of Annapolis and DMV area. In El Salvador, Glory began teaching art classes to children and adults at Elementary  School and University Modular Open in El Salvador.
Currently Glory works by commission as an artist, and collaborates with many local community organizations and schools to provide instruction, including Maryland Hall, Marshall  Learning Center, and Annapolis elementary schools. She spends her days motivating the next generation to discover the inspiring world of Spanish as a language, visual art and culture.

VIsual Arts Integration Teacher 

Stephanie Pollock has been teaching pre-K through 5th grade elementary art for 15 years and has her Masters in Art Education from Towson University.  She has a focus on painting and mixed-media, and loves the themes of animal portraits, waterscapes, and forest scenes in her art. Stephanie is the mother of 2 energetic and creative boys, ages 5 and 7 who are either outside playing with their 2 mixed-breed dogs or inside creating machines, forts, and paper airplanes.  Stephanie believes expression and creation through visual art is an important component to a child’s well-rounded education and natural creative tendencies.  Her purpose as an art educator is to guide children artists to make their own choices while learning art techniques & concepts, art history, and exploring the art of world cultures.