Tuesday, February 24, 2026

Joining Janeane on 2/25 at 9:00am is Maria Freebairn-Smith Center for Creative Exploration - Painting Teacher and Outreach Director


Maria Freebairn-Smith is a teacher and Family Program Coordinator at the Center for Creative Exploration. She has been painting and teaching the intuitive painting process for over 30 years. She participated in the first teacher training for The Painting Experience, facilitated by Michele Cassou and Stewart Cubley. Along with Barbara Kaufman and others, Maria was one of CCE’s original founders. She also helped to establish the nonprofit Drawbridge: An Arts Program for Homeless Children, and The Open Circle Cooperative Preschool, both in San Francisco.


Along with her process painting training, Maria holds a degree in Psychology from Barnard College, Columbia University, and has a graduate Certificate in Restorative Justice Practices. Other advanced trainings include Waldorf Early Childhood Education, Middendorf Breathexperience, and Motion Improvisational Theater.


When Maria began raising a family, she moved to Sonoma County. Focusing on
education for children in her new community, she founded The Creative Parenting Center and helped establish Sunridge, a Waldorf-methods charter school. Returning to the CCE painting community, Maria brings a lifetime commitment to body, breath, and inquiry practices that ground her teaching in a broad transpersonal perspective.
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Have you heard of the Strangers Project in NYC? Real handwritten stories from strangers — part of The Strangers Project at the Oculus. What would your story say?”

ABOUT THE STRANGERS PROJECT Brandon is the founder of The Strangers Project. Since 2009, he has been inviting people to pause, pick up a pen...