Maria Dreznina Archive

In 2024, artist, teacher, and art therapist Maria Dreznina transferred the documents that became the core of this archive to the media library of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts. Maria Dreznina is the author of books on children’s development through art and a lead methodologist for educational activities at Museion Center for Aesthetic Education of Children and Youth at the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts.

The materials in the archive offer insight into Maria Dreznina’s teaching and her approach. The most important part of the collection relates to her work developing the curriculum on the basis of the art therapy classes at Museion Center for Aesthetic Education of Children and Youth in 2006. Aimed at socio‑pedagogical rehabilitation of children and adults, the program introduced participants to the exhibits at the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, followed by a re‑living of the experience at the Museion studio. Using her own approach, Maria Dreznina helps students find ways to understand art and unlocks the creative potential in each person. The classes help participants adapt to the world around them, develop new skills, and expand their knowledge of art.

In the mid‑1990s, Dreznina created her Space Orientation method for teaching visual art as part of the education program for children with compensatory articulation disorders. From 1997 to 2000, together with the Ecology of Childhood Foundation, she organized a series of social and art events for children and parents as part of the annual international exhibition The World of Childhood (Expocenter, Moscow). Her other social projects of that period include the exhibitions Home Museum, Take Care of Children and Animals, Let's Save All the Beautiful Things of the Planet, House of My Dreams, and the street project A Panorama of Moscow Life by as Seen by Children. Since 2000, Maria Dreznina has been developing and running family creativity events. She runs programs at kindergartens, schools, and psychological, medical, and social centers. Her main projects include: Towards Each Other, Children are the Flowers of Life, The Bird of Family Happiness, Room for the Soul, I am an Adult, You Are a Child, Family Nest, and The Earth We Live On.

The archive contains materials related to these projects: works by the students, feedback from parents and teachers, booklets and invitation cards, photo and video documentation. It also includes methodological manuals, books, and published texts of Dreznina's talks at psychotherapy conferences. These documents provide an opportunity to study the teaching method and practice of an art therapist with years of experience, as well as to get to know the various work formats at the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, on the basis of which Museion studio operates.

About the Archivist

Maria Dreznina (b. 1953, Moscow) graduated from Moscow State Surikov Academy of Fine Arts in Theater Design in 1978. In the same year, she began showing her work at exhibitions. She has been a member of the Moscow Union of Artists since 1982. Her practice includes painting, art therapy, and jewelry design. Her works are in the collections of Kaluga Museum of Fine Art, New Jerusalem State Museum of History and Art, the Seversk City Museum, and Kaliningrad Regional Museum of Fine Art, as well as in private collections in Austria, Belgium, the UK, Germany, Israel, the USA, and Japan.

Maria Dreznina has taught classes at children's art studios and Moscow Krasnopresnenskaya Art School and has worked in psychological centers. In 1993, she was one of the founders of Metamorfoza International Association of Art Teachers and Art Therapists. In 2001, she became a member of the Professional League of Psychotherapists. Since 2006, she has been running art therapy classes for children with special educational needs at the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts and at its Museion studio. She has taken part in international and Russian conferences on supporting children and their families through art therapy. She runs education programs for teachers, psychologists, and social workers.