URU’s work is based upon the belief that art is a powerful source of expression and self-empowerment fundamental to the individual human spirit and the functioning of a civil society; one that can define and transform civilizations and individuals. Our motto, “To challenge hearts and minds through the arts,” reflects our strong belief in inclusion, education, quality, enlightenment, enjoyment, civic responsibility, personal growth and self-empowerment through the arts. Since its inception, URU has touched and inspired audiences in excess of 12 million people across the United States and the world and has enriched the lives of more than 100,000 children. The key to URU’s success is its unique wellspring of national and local relationships – built over the course of 25 years and within more than 75 communities – dedicated to collaboratively producing powerful, engaging programming. URU brings together diverse groups of community members, supplies customized tools, and employs proven strategies and techniques to effect powerful, tangible, and profound change. We encourage and inspire our participants by providing “road maps” to help them step beyond the limited perspectives they sometimes place upon themselves toward an understanding that all parts of our society are connected within an interdependent “ecosystem” that needs balance and inclusion to achieve its full potential. That means that our actions – as both individuals and groups – affect other individuals and groups and, ultimately, the total sum of who and what we are as a civil, humane society. We fervently believe, as the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King often said so eloquently, “Injustice anywhere affects justice everywhere."