Mary Hardy Roberts: Teacher Emeritus
Mary Hardy Roberts' career in the arts has reached countless communities, individual adults and children. Since the 1970s, with her family's collection of musical instruments, she has introduced thousands to the magic of strings through the "First Time Fiddler's Workshop," a hands-on approach to music through color. Training amateur musicians represents her lifelong work. Her "Music and Movement Explorations" classes have introduced young children to music, instruments and dance. For the past fifty-plus years she has taught families to play music together. Her belief that the birthright of all people to explore their artistic potential has carried her through a creative, productive and fulfilling teaching career.
Music studies at the Jacques Dalcroze School in Manhattan influenced her interest in music and movement. Mary then pursued academic courses and master classes at the Julliard School of Music and the Manhattan School of Music. Following formal training, she began her teaching at the Harlem School of Performing Arts. From there she went to Philadelphia and in the 1980s to Virginia where she taught in the Buckingham Public Schools through a grant form the Virginia Commission for the Arts. In Amarillo, Mary was instrumental in the formation of the Longwood College Community School of Music. She taught families and Longwood music students as well as conducted a community orchestra.
In 1994, Mary came to Scottsville where she has been teaching ever since. She continues to reach out to share both her enthusiasm and talent for traditional music and rural art forms. She is a founding member of the Scottsville Council of the Arts and is the driving force behind the Scottsville Center for ARts and Nature. The center is designed to house master classes, workshops, exhibition spaces and community performances. With this generous vision Mary will establish an invaluable resource for nurturing and preserving the arts in our region.
Mary was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Piedmont Council for the Arts in 2006.