Allyson Hardy is a passionate art educator and practicing artist with over 25 years of experience teaching children ages 4 to 18. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Delta State University and is a certified K–12 art and gifted teacher. Known for her creative energy and commitment to meaningful instruction, Allyson has taught in a wide range of educational settings throughout Mississippi and the Memphis area.

After six years teaching art in Desoto County and Memphis, Allyson returned to the Mississippi Delta in 2008 to teach Gifted Education at Hayes Cooper Center. There, she founded HCC’s Art and Soul, a unique program that brought in local artists to offer students both visual and performing arts experiences. After 17 years in public education, Allyson stepped away from the classroom to focus more fully on her own creative practice and to build a private art program that reflected her values and vision as an educator.

In 2021, she launched Art with Allyson, an after-school art program created to provide high-quality, enriching visual arts experiences for children in Cleveland, Mississippi as part of the programing at Delta Arts Alliance. Allyson’s adult workshops are also popular, where she shares her passion for mixed media and painting and encourages adults to embrace imperfection and their inner creative. She will be forever grateful for DAA’s collaboration and support. Now in its fifth year, her after school art program is beginning a new chapter at St. Luke United Methodist Church—Allyson’s home church—where a spacious, colorful classroom offers an inspiring setting for students to learn and create. Through a new partnership with St. Luke and local art teachers, the program will also offer full scholarships to artistically inclined children who may not otherwise have access.

Allyson’s teaching philosophy blends technical skill-building with creative exploration, grounded in the elements of design, diverse art media, and thoughtful connections to art history and culture. Her classes are joyful, inclusive spaces where students feel encouraged to take creative risks, think deeply, and grow through the process of making art.

She is also a proud mother to three children—Emma, Eliza, and Zane—and an active supporter of the arts in her community.