Back to Newsroom

Art with heart

Non-profit Arts Umbrella has been serving youth for more than 40 years

September 4, 2025

Beyond its bustling market, galleries and theatres, Granville Island is home to a remarkable 50,000-sq.-ft. hub for young people that serves as a model for arts education across North America.

“From the beginning, Arts Umbrella was associated with Granville Island,” said CEO Paul Larocque. “In 1979 there was a pilot project at the False Creek Community Centre and it was in the second year that Granville Island in its current iteration was just beginning. Arts Umbrella was one of those founding cultural partners on the island.”

Over the next 40 years, the non-profit expanded to locations across Metro Vancouver, serving more than half-a-million young people since its inception. Artist-educators help young artists unlock their passion for the arts, empowering them with essential skills such as creative thinking, confidence and compassion.

In 2021, Arts Umbrella came home to the island, taking over the former Emily Carr University of Art + Design building after a massive renovation project that tripled their programming space.

“It was a mammoth project to be able to repurpose this building. The overall campaign exceeded $40 million, including an endowment to help operate in the space,” said Larocque.

The community really came together to ensure that we could do this, and it’s been an incredible story ever since. We’re able to build and grow opportunities for young people in the arts because of this purpose-built space, this state-of-the-art facility. It’s just been groundbreaking.

Each year, Arts Umbrella reaches more than 20,000 young people across Metro Vancouver and Canada through on-site education, off-site community programs and national satellite initiatives — with nearly 75 per cent of its  programming offered at no cost thanks to the support of donors.

On one summer afternoon, the hallways are quiet and still, with light flooding in from the skylights. However, behind each door is a creative hive, humming with dance, drumming or design discourse. In one studio, Juilliard’s Risa Steinberg is delivering a summer dance intensive. In another, students are working on architectural models of what their vision is for the new Vancouver Art Gallery.

The building houses six dance studios; four theatre, music and film studios with specialized technical and audio equipment; 10 art and design studios, including state-of-the-art media labs and a photography darkroom; a 132-seat theatre; a public exhibition space; and a dedicated workshop area for woodworking, stagecraft building and general fabrication that will enhance capacity to train future industry professionals.

While there are about 5,000 tuition-based student enrolments in the building, a majority of the students served are beyond its walls.

Arts Umbrella partners with 110 community locations, from Vancouver to Toronto, to deliver programs on an ongoing basis. This includes BC Children’s Hospital, Ronald McDonald House, Covenant House, schools and daycares in marginalized communities in Vancouver and Surrey.

“It’s a story about excellence,” said Larocque. “Our staff is now almost 300, with more than 200 of those employees directly working with children and youth as instructors, choreographers… really inspiring through their own experiences.”

He added that the world-class teachers and instructors who work on Granville Island are the same who go out into the community to deliver their off-site programs. 

“I’ve been amazed in my 10 years as CEO, I’ve seen so much growth and really witnessed what is really integral to the founding vision and mission of this organization, which is really about just witnessing the impact of high quality arts education on the lives of children and youth. We see that every single day.”

Arts Umbrella runs an after-school program in Surrey Centre (in Park Place Towers) that serves young people in that community at no cost, thanks to their funding partners. Programming includes everything from improv and visual arts, to architecture and filmmaking/acting.

In the Downtown Eastside, Arts Umbrella has had an extensive presence for decades through programs such as HeadStart at Britannia Pre-School, YWCA Crabtree Corner Daycare, Eagles-in-the-Sky Child Care, Grandview Terrace Daycare, Ray-Cam Co-operative Centre, Strathcona Community Centre and many more. These sites offer theatre, dance and visual arts programs, again at no cost thanks to donors and supporters.

A generation of children have experienced enriching workshops, directly benefitting from free, high-quality arts programming in their schools. These are safe and welcoming spaces for youth from the neighbourhood to build confidence, discover their creative voices and share in the joy of making art together.

“At the heart of what we’re doing, we are definitely delivering amazing arts education,” said  Larocque. “But I think our entire team feels like we’re really playing an important role in building community and really empowering the next generation to be as compassionate, and as innovative, and as responsive, and as nimble as they can be. We know now more than ever before how important that is so we’re very proud.”

Annual highlights and public events

• Since 2021, Arts Umbrella has been hosting a meaningful day of reflection and education on Sept. 30, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. This year the organization will be selling orange t-shirts on Granville Island featuring a design by one of their board members, artist James Harry (Nexw’Kalus), with proceeds supporting Urban Native Youth Association (UNYA) and All My Relations Indigenous Society to support their work with local Indigenous youth. All are welcome to visit the Granville Island campus starting at 9 a.m. for activities and talks led by Indigenous artists and knowledge keepers.

• Scholarships, bursaries and generous donations support more than half of the young people who enrol with Arts Umbrella, and two annual events that fuel this fundraising are the Splash Gala in October and the popular Mixed Nuts holiday showcase, which is a modern and approachable take on The Nutcracker in December.

This year’s 43rd annual Splash Art Auction will be held at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver on Saturday, Oct. 4 hosted by Fred Lee and Gloria Macarenko. The gala features an elegant reception and dinner, performances by Arts Umbrella students, including the Arts Umbrella Dance Company and Pre-Professional Musical Theatre Troupe, and a live auction led by Hank Bull. A simultaneous livestream will be available. 

The public can get a preview of the Splash Art collection from Sept. 8 to Oct.  at the Pendulum Gallery (885 W. Georgia St.), which features 92 captivating pieces of artwork donated by acclaimed and emerging Canadian and international artists. The collection this year features works from some of today’s most compelling voices in art, including Moses Salihou, Maggie Hall, Cole Speck, Kim Dorland, Russna Kaur, Jonathan Syme, Ian Wallace and Charlene Vickers.

Details for this year’s Mixed Nuts at the Vancouver Playhouse in mid-December will be available in November. Every year the showcase brings together a spirited assortment of dance styles, from hip-hop, to ballroom, to the classic grand pas-de-deux, featuring Arts Umbrella dancers ages 13-22.

To donate, get involved, enrol, or stay informed, visit artsumbrella.com