In Denver, Spanish-speaking youth are producing their own plays through the After-School and Community Arts Program of Teatro Latino de Colorado. Anita Arrieta-Alejandre, the daughter of migrant workers, created Teatro to help break down cultural barriers experienced by Latinos and to demystify the artistic process. Programs are held in donated spaces, often in community centers. Twice a week over 12 weeks, 15 to 30 students meet for 2 hours to determine the content and form of the production. Working with Arrieta-Alejandre and an artist/instructor, youth are encouraged to try all aspects of creating a production. The productions are presented once during school hours for classmates and after school for parents and family. Because of their success in the Latino community, ArtReach, another nonprofit organization, approached Teatro Latino de Colorado to help develop similar Spanish-speaking programs in surrounding Denver communities. "These productions are about neighborhoods, home and families; they help the kids dream and create a future. It shows the ones with low self-esteem that they are capable of great things," says Arrieta-Alejandre.