Mia Ballard Photo

Mia Ballard

Visual Arts

Mia is a visual artist, educator, facilitator, entrepreneur, healer, activist and gardener. She is passionate about the transformative power of creative arts for healing, self-empowerment, personal growth and social change.

Mia holds a B.A. in Elementary Education and she has been teaching children of all ages in D.C. and Maryland for over 12 years. The majority of her teaching and curriculum development work has been focused on experiential, garden-based and social-emotional learning. Through her business Gold Minds Tutoring, she provides individualized educational coaching, supporting students in building confidence and academic skills while having fun learning.

Though she has been drawn to visual arts for as long as she can remember and considers art to be a way of living life, some of her favorite art forms include drawing, collage, lettering, photography, painting, jewelry-making, creative writing, landscape design, and culinary arts.

She believes strongly in the creative arts as one of the most powerful tools for sharing stories, expressing, processing and transmuting emotions, connecting with our essence, building community, giving voice to injustice, and cultivating a healthy mind, body and spirit. This not only makes personal growth and healing possible, but also creates a healthier society.