Teachers
Nicole Andrews Brandes holds a Master of Fine Arts from the University of California where she studied art history and studio art. She has taught drawing and painting at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Henry Street Art Settlement, New York City Public Schools, the Maryland College of Art and Design. Nicole conducted classes at the Fillmore Art Center, the Lab School and at DCPS Bancroft Elementary School, where she was the lead art instructor responsible for over five hundred children. She participated in the ‘Her Corner’ business training program for women entrepreneurs and she is a member of the North American Reggio Emilia Alliance. Nicole attended the Reggio Emilia Approach to Education Study Group at the Loris Malaguzzi International Center in Reggio Emilia, Italy. Nicole is a practicing visual artist and has received the Puffin Award, Art Matters Award and Russell Award for Artistic Excellence. Her work has been shown by Pierogi Gallery, Apex Art and Printed Matter in New York City, School 33 in Baltimore and Gasworks Gallery in London.
Aliana Grace Bailey was born and raised in DC. She is a interdisciplinary artist, graphic designer, educator, and passionate advocate for radical self-love and wellness. Since a child, she has loved experimenting in her “studio”, sewing pillows by hand, and dreamed of seeing her art on fabric. In 2014, she graduated from NC A&T State University, where she double-majored, earning a Bachelor of Social Work and a Bachelor of Art in Visual Arts Media Design. Aliana credits her experience in NC A&T’s Visual Art department as the place she discovered who she was and what she is capable of as a quiet creator and leader. Aliana first began teaching art in 2011 and has since worked with all age groups ranging from toddlers to seniors, in various environments, from afterschool art programs to hospice care. In 2017, she completed the Art for Social Impact fellowship at The Sanctuaries and became a socially-engaged teaching artist. In May 2020, Aliana earned her MFA in Community Arts and a Certificate in the College Teaching of Art from Maryland Institute College of Art. During graduate school, she found a new love in helping people move through the grief process and has been a grief support advocate for over three years in Baltimore City. After nine years of experience as a professional artist and graphic design freelancer, she has learned a lot about her purpose, what she needs to be her best self, what doesn’t align, and what it truly means to honor her nature. vibrant grace studio is the embodiment. By practicing vulnerability, self-love, and empathy, she hopes to inspire the same in others. Aliana strives to give people a sense of joy, healing, and a reminder of how to love—themselves and the world
Greta Schorn has been teaching art for 11 years. Greta graduated from St. Stephens International High School in Rome, Italy, where she was introduced to Reggio Emilia approach to learning and teaching. She continued her education in her first two years of college at the University of Maryland and abroad in the city of Mannheim Germany. When she returned to the USA, she graduated out of the University of Mary Washington with a bachelor’s degree in Art History, Art Studio and Art Education. In 2010, she was awarded a grant fund from the DC Commission on the Art & Humanities to continue her education on the Reggio Emilia approach in Reggio Emilia Italy. Greta began her first five years of teaching as a Atelierista for a Reggio Emilia inspired preschool program at Scott Montgomery ES and Walker Jones EC. She is currently a Visual Art Teacher at Amidon Bowen Elementary School.
Crystal Coley graduated Cum Laude from Trinity Washington University. She has worked with Americorp, the Urban Education Leadership Internship Program and the Literacy Lab where she leads a group tutoring students who resided at DC General Homeless Shelter. She has worked with the District of Columbia Public Schools as a teacher for almost a decade. Crystal has experience supporting children in crisis, assisting social workers in supporting children with emotional and behavioral needs, and differentiating instruction to cater to students receiving special education services. She has experience sassing children using DIBLES and she has directed an after school enrichment program for PK, K and first grade students.