Tacked into a quiet corner of Springdale neighborhood and surrounded by a beautiful garden filled with flowers and fruit trees, Edgewood Academy is located in a house with a unique history.
Freda Dreany (1913-2006), an award-winning area portrait painter and beloved art teacher had lived and worked here for over fifty years. Numbering in the thousands, her portraits grace homes all over Fairfield County and are in private collections in Canada, Ireland, and the United States. Widely known for her extraordinary gifts as an art teacher, Freda Dreany taught for many years at the Greenwich Art Society, the Darien Arts Council, and in her home, at 18 Edgewood Ave, mentoring along the way dozens of practicing artists.
Freda’s husband, Edward Joseph “Joe” Dreany (1908-1961), a celebrated illustrator, and children’s books author, immigrated to the United States from Canada in 1946. He found work illustrating children’s adventure novels and bought a house in Stamford. His wife Freda and their children followed him in 1947. In the 50s Joe Dreany painted covers and illustrated stories for several Little Golden Books produced by Whitman Publications. He also wrote and illustrated books for the popular Whitman “Learn About” series for kids (Big Builders) and Maxton Books For Young People (Children of the World, Mankind through the Ages, Our World, Rivers, Horses, Alaska..).
The artistic legacy left by Freda and Joe Dreany has inspired the founders of Edgewood Academy to create a program that incorporates art and craft classes into the daily activities of toddlers and preschoolers. At Edgewood Academy, we believe that art is essential to the development of young children’s physical and cognitive skills and their aesthetic awareness. Art allows young children to explore their imagination, express themselves freely, and develop critical skills that will benefit them throughout their lives.
