SCAN BEGINNINGS

Arriving in Scottsville in 1994 toting over 100 stringed instruments, Mary Hardy set up her music school in her home on James River Road. Her “The Family Players” music program was met with immediate success and Mary became known as the “music lady” to the general public and “Miss Tudala” to her students. The “Family Players” teaching program was a rich multi-media experience for children and adults encompassing music, dance, theater, and much more.

Students entered through the back door and after an hour or two or three, would leave with music, poetry or games running through their minds. The teachings of Mary Hardy had always been about more than music they were a transforming creative experience based on her life experiences of bringing diverse communities together through her belief that the arts—all art forms— especially music was universal.

Mary was a born teacher who came from a long line of educators and who always said "music chose me." Prior to her move to Scottsville, she taught in Philadelphia through the Philadelphia School of Arts, Richmond through the West End Academy of Dance, and Buckingham, Virginia through Yogaville and her home “Wilderness.” As a young mother from New York City, in the 1970s, she would travel to Harlem on the subway to teach violin to youngsters at the Harlem School of Arts under Dorothy Maynor. Mary left this earth in November of 2014, but we are determined to carry on her legacy of bringing the joy of creating, whether it be in music, dance, visual arts, bee keeping, nature studies, or performing to the Scottsville community.