In the early morning hours, the Arts Umbrella building on Granville Island is quiet. Gradually, it awakens as staff members start to arrive. The lights are turned on, floors swept and front doors unlocked. The team of artists and trained instructors start to prepare their studios, and load up vans bound for outreach, eager to teach.

There's always a sense of anticipation for all that will happen within these walls and within the walls of our various outreach locations — a mix of opening-night-like hush and focused preparation for the boundless energy about to emerge. As students begin to trickle in, the lobbies and hallways start to fill until overflowing with their voices and bustle as they make their way to our studios, whether that be within our permanent facilities, in school gymnasiums or community centres. This is when Arts Umbrella comes to life, every day, to inspire kids for life through the arts.

Arts Umbrella is a remarkable place where students from as young as two to teens up to 19 are transported from the world outside to somewhere quite magical. It is alive with young people immersed in creating and learning. Almost everyday, we take this magic to other areas of our community, to reach children in their own neighbourhoods. For more than a quarter century, Arts Umbrella has provided the highest quality visual and performing arts education to young people in the community regardless of their financial means or artistic skill.

Arts Umbrella has become a model for organizations around the world and created an incredible community of students, past students, parents, artists, instructors, volunteers, supporters, donors, staff and friends — all inspired by the energy, joy and obvious benefits that arts education brings to children.

The kind of programming Arts Umbrella provides helps children learn to appreciate the arts and to develop creativity, independent thinking, technical skills, self-confidence, discipline, and even improved academic results and specific career direction.

Arts Umbrella's classes are available for a wide range of ages and for every level, from "no skill required" to pre-professional. The mix of topics in visual and performing arts education is also exceptional and includes, for example, architecture, cartooning, computer and classical animation, dance, film making, media arts, painting and drawing, printmaking photography, sculpture, theatre and video game design.

Arts Umbrella reaches tens of thousands of young people annually. The Granville Island facility alone hosts more than 260 classes each week. In addition, nearly every day, Arts Umbrella vans are loaded up with supplies and a gifted team of instructors, and the dynamic Arts Umbrella programming is transported to schools and community centres in the surrounding community and beyond. An East Vancouver neighbourhood has also become home to a satellite location for our free music program, Sarah McLachlan Music Outreach — An Arts Umbrella Project. All of this is done to ensure that thousands of young people, who otherwise might not be able to participate in or enjoy the arts, get that chance.

So it is no wonder that every evening at Arts Umbrella, after the last dancer has danced and the last little painter has painted, when the supplies put away, vans parked and doors locked, when it's time to turn out the lights for the night, there is always a deep sense of satisfaction in the air. Another full day of inspiring kids for life through the arts.