About Del City Creative Arts Institute
The mission of the Creative Arts Institute is to ignite creativity and build character by making arts education accessible to every child in our community.
Our Vision is to:
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Create a place of belonging where students, aka “Creatives” feel safe, seen, and inspired to grow.
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Provide high quality, subsidized music and creative arts education to Creatives in the Mid-Del area.
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Build Creatives’ character, confidence, and creativity through caring mentorship.
Our Story
Every student has creative potential waiting to be unleashed.
In Del City, we saw too many students, a.k.a. "Creatives," who lacked access to opportunities to help grow their innate talents and abilities. When we learned that zero middle and high school Creatives in our community were taking private music lessons, we knew something had to change.
Beginning in 2023, we spent two years listening to Creatives and families, learning about the barriers they faced: cost, transportation, availability of instructors, and lack of after-school programs. Del City Creative Arts Institute was founded in 2025 by Sunny Lane United Methodist Church as a separate, non-religious non-profit in collaboration with community leaders, educators, and neighbors who believed every child deserves the opportunity to explore their creativity.
Their stories shaped everything we do.
We opened our doors in January 2026 with a commitment to accessibility and affordability. We offer studio-style music lessons, visual arts classes, and Creative Space activities for just $5 per week, thanks to generous grants from the Woodworth and Petree Foundations and community fundraisers. No Creative will be turned away due to inability to pay.
We're building something bigger than a place to take lessons. We're creating a community where Creatives can belong. Where a fourth-grader learning violin gets the same attention as a high school senior preparing college auditions. Where a graphic designer teams up with a musician to create a flyer for their recital. Where Performance Labs help Creatives build confidence alongside skills. Where no child feels left out or alone.
Our Creatives are painters and programmers, sewers and singers, robot- builders and guitarists. They're homeschoolers and public school students. They're beginners taking their first lesson and advanced musicians refining their craft. We serve 4th-12th graders who live in the Mid-Del Schools attendance zone.
What unites them? The belief that they can create something meaningful. The support to try, fail, learn, and grow. A community that celebrates their progress and cheers their performances.
This is where creative voices are discovered, developed, and celebrated.
This is Del City Creative Arts Institute.