The Society for the Arts in Dementia Care is a non-profit organization dedicated to knowledge dissemination and education that focuses on improving the quality of lives of seniors living with dementia by using the visual and performing arts. Background Founded in 2004, the head office is in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. In 2007, an affiliate chapter was created in Perth, Australia. The Society organizes annual conferences on Creative Expression, Communication and Dementia, commonly referred to as CECD Conferences. The Society for the Arts in Dementia Care is built on the premise that people living with dementia have the right to dignity, to be heard and to be valued. The Society provides an interdisciplinary forum for creative expression in dementia care, bringing together academic research and practical knowledge through collaboration between the medical profession and the creative arts. The Society aims to disseminate knowledge and establish ties with dementia care organisations worldwide, thereby improving the quality of life for people with dementia. Origins The idea for The Society for the Arts in Dementia Care grew out of the experience of Dalia Gottlieb-Tanaka, who had developed a program of Creative Expression Activities in her work with seniors with dementia. As a PhD student at the Institute of Health Promotion Research, an Interdisciplinary Program at the University of British Columbia, she was eager to engage a wider audience of professionals and practitioners in exchanging ideas and strategies to address the problems of this population of seniors. Early on, she arranged a successful exhibition of artwork that had been produced by the seniors with dementia she worked with; it took place at the Ferry Building Gallery in West Vancouver, BC, in 2003. More than 4,000 people visited the gallery over three weeks. The exhibition included seminars and workshops free of charge and was attended by healthcare providers, caregivers, seniors with dementia and the community at large. This event demonstrated that there was wide interest in the seniors' condition and curiosity about what kind of creative work the seniors could do. Conferences The exhibition and related events served as a catalyst for conferences that Gottlieb-Tanaka organized at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in 2005 and 2006, the Society's first and second international CECD conferences respectively. The Conferences on Creative Expression, Communication and Dementia (CECD) introduced a new concept and new forum where anyone with an interest in dementia care and creative activities could come