Studio Art teacher Fallon Chase thinks of artistic expression as something within everyone’s reach, a capacity she helps cultivate in students by introducing them to the principles and tools of visual language. “Pairing art lessons with particular works of art or artists helps students learn history and traditions,” she says, adding that exposing students to new possibilities gives them a vocabulary for making their own creative choices. “It can take a long time to bring out your interests,” she muses, reflecting on her own path through interest in illustration to her current pursuit, painting the orderliness and unraveling of patterns in nature. Respecting and supporting the individual process of discovery has been an integral part of her learning, and informs her teaching.

Ms. Chase’s parents studied architecture and imparted to her their love of beauty and the arts. She has taught art at summer camps and community centers; served as Teaching Assistant in Studio Art at American University; and was an adjunct Professor in Drawing at Northern Virginia Community College. Before teaching at Green Hedges, Ms. Chase taught Lower and Upper School Art at Cornerstone Schools in Washington, D.C., and was a School Program Educator at The Phillips Collection in D.C., where she worked with students in Kindergarten through Grade 12 in a variety of roles, leading partnership programs with schools, facilitating tours, and creating lesson plans that integrate art into core curricula.