Paradiso Arts was founded by artist, Laura Alvarez in 2011. This mobile and now online art studio fills a void in the enrichment landscape. While many schools and classes say they promote the arts, Paradiso Arts is an oasis of true empowerment, experimentation and creativity for children. In these times of standardized testing, curriculums planned out to the smallest detail, children are rushed to complete projects with an end result in mind. Paradiso Arts values the whole child and believes students are not vessels to be filled, but come with their own experiences and ideas. Inspired by the Reggio Approach, Laura is able to facilitate lessons intuitively, with sensitivity to the beautiful creatures that are our creative children.
About Laura: Laura taught art at Crossroads Elementary School for seven years where she developed a program that supported children becoming comfortable with a variety of media, the goal being that they could then choose their media based on their concept. Having studied the Reggio Emilia approach in Italy, Laura sees the teacher as a facilitator and co-researcher. She was the studio teacher at First Presbyterian Nursery School in Santa Monica and taught the Reggio approach at Santa Monica College, Pacific Oaks College, as well as at a number of education conferences. Laura received her M.F.A. from San Francisco Art Institute. Click here to see Laura’s art website.
Paradiso Arts 