In 1979, United Nations’ International Year of the Child, Arts Umbrella opened its doors to 45 children. It was an endeavour buoyed by the dream of five enthusiastic artists and parents concerned about the lack of arts education available to children. Since then, we’ve been sharing creativity through our visual arts, music, theatre, dance, and media arts programs. It amounts to 785 classes per year in four locations. And students range from preschoolers to pre-professionals. We base classes on arts-education principles, hire practicing artists, and use top-quality supplies. These are just a few of the ways we foster a place with no creative limits. Our vision is to create a better world where all young lives are inspired to pursue a lifelong journey towards self-expression, compassion, and humanity. At Arts Umbrella, children learn to dance, to paint, to sculpt, to create computer games and cartoons, and to perform. They experience the joy of creation and discover their own creative potential. They learn to appreciate the arts. Most important, through arts education, children gain self confidence, independent thinking, technical skills, discipline, and even improved academic results and specific career direction. Numerous studies indicate that people who receive arts education early in life reap many tangible, long-term, life-changing benefits and gain skills that can help them well into adulthood.