Maria Schaedler-Luera

Maria is a Brazilian-born educator and artist with extensive work experience and knowledge in theater, music, arts and literacy, and cross-cultural engagement. Maria is an Arts Integration Consultant for National Leader in Arts Integration Focus 5 Inc. and a Drama and Mindfulness Teaching Artist for the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall and the Sarasota Performing Arts Center Foundation where she designs and pilots teaching models and workshops for county schools and nonprofits, focusing on culturally relevant teaching, bilingual programs, and mental health. Maria also serves as an Engagement Team Member for The Patterson Foundation. She studied with theater director Augusto Boal and taught classes and workshops that focus on Theatre of the Oppressed techniques for the American Repertory Theater, Harvard Extension School, Lesley University, and several other non-profits in Boston, MA and Sarasota, FL. She worked at the Harvard Art Museums developing, coordinating, and teaching gallery classes to immigrants in English, Portuguese and Spanish and at the Community Art Center in Cambridge, MA leading the Community Programs and Public Art Initiatives. Maria has served as the Manager for Arts Integration for Any Given Child Sarasota at Sarasota County Schools. She is a seasoned Pre-Texts facilitator, a teacher-training program by Cultural Agents at Harvard University that uses art making to develop literacy and citizenship. She is also a Chopra Center Certified Primordial Sound Meditation teacher, a Reiki Master, and an Ayurvedic Health Counselor.