The DREAMS Center for Arts Education is a 2007 winner of the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities' Coming Up Taller Award, the nation's highest honor for after school and out-of-school arts and humanities programs. DREAMS is dedicated to building creative, committed citizens, one child at a time, by providing youth in need with high-quality, free-of-charge classes in the literary, visual and performing arts.

A DREAMS education will:

• Build a bright future, filled with opportunity and hope
• Develop self-confidence and prepare students for community leadership
• Provide mentoring relationships with teaching artists in a safe, nurturing environment
• Connect students with a positive, constructive peer group
• Expand horizons by making art and discovering the many joys of self-expression

History

In 1996, a group of dedicated, committed citizens in Wilmington, North Carolina came together to make a dream come true. Their goal: to create a high-quality, free-of-charge program where youth in need could receive the many benefits of a top-shelf arts education. They believed that no matter what a child’s circumstances, he or she was entitled to the best that life had to offer…and that the instinctive, creative, healing nature of the arts played a key role in making a wounded child whole. And so DREAMS was born.

Today, DREAMS provides programming each year to more than 600 young people. We offer more than 60 classes per week at more than 15 sites—our inner-city center, schools, city recreation centers, public housing sites, after-school and out-of-school programs, day treatment centers—in three counties. And we employ more than 20 teaching artists who share our vision of a world where every child has the right to self-expression and the opportunity to create a life filled with promise and hope.

Accomplishments

Excellence in Programming. Each year, DREAMS provides more than 600 youth in need, ages 8-17, with classes in the literary, visual and performing arts. In 2007, the DREAMS program was recognized by the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities with the Coming Up Taller Award, the nation’s highest honor for after-school and out-of-school programs.

Diverse Programs. Students choose from a wide array of classes, including master painting, percussion, photography, filmmaking and creative writing, just to name a few. Our initiatives include Youth Entrepreneurship—putting art to work; Public Art—giving back to the community and Visiting Artists—studying with nationally and internationally recognized artists.
Best Practices. DREAMS implemented research-based curricula in the arts education and youth development fields, assuring that our students receive only the best.

Staying Power. DREAMS has been a community resource for well over a decade. Why? There is a true need for the program in our community, which has led to overwhelming support at the local, state, regional and national levels. And we have the commitment of our young people and their families, enhanced by the dedication of our volunteers and staff.