As young adults, their lives began in strikingly different ways, with in-depth study in psychology, dance, graphic arts, vocal music or elementary education.

Now, the paths of four Indianapolis women have begun to resemble each other's. These days, they use their creative gifts for a common goal: making a difference for the next generation through the arts.

During the early 1990s, Catherine Wade was a child actor in Indianapolis-based Young Actors Theatre. After studying graphic arts in college, she returned to the youth playhouse to take on new roles, as teacher, scenic designer, and eventually, associate artistic director.

Laura Alvarado coaxed seemingly unrelated interests in psychology and studio art into a cohesive career. Since moving from Arizona to Indiana, Alvarado has taken charge of youth outreach programs at the Indianapolis Art Center.

And two former elementary school teachers, Ruth Dwyer and Sabra Logan, risked leaving the security of their jobs to reach out to young people in non-profit arts groups.

Dwyer, the director of education and associate director of the Indianapolis Children's Choir, has been with the internationally known choral group for 20 years. Logan, the founder of Iibada Dance Company, which teaches African and modern dance to minority youth, will celebrate her company's 20th anniversary next year.

Here's a look at their work:

Catherine Wade: Associate artistic director, Young Actors Theatre

Catherine Wade played just a minor role when she first appeared on stage at Young Actors Theatre, but that didn't bother the 6-year-old Indianapolis girl one bit.

She was stage-struck, and she still remembers the feeling, 20 years later.

"The show was 'Sleeping Beauty,'." Wade said, "and I was one of the little village kids."

She also recalls that her older brother, Justin Wade, played the Prince, which may have inspired a little sibling rivalry.

"You've got to start small, but I always wanted to have bigger roles," she said.

These days, Catherine Wade does play a bigger role at Young Actors -- as associate artistic director.

(Of course, Justin still has top billing, since he took over as artistic director about five years ago, after company founder Charlotte Kaufman decided to retire.)

But both Wades are in a position to pass along the magic of live theater to budding actors.

Catherine, now a 26-year-old communications manager for the Builders Association of Greater Indianapolis, also works part time at Young Actors -- YAT for short.

She became increasingly involved with the theater after graduating from college.

"I really feel like so many kids don't go down the right path in life," she said. "They don't have positive people to look up to when they're young."

Young Actors breaks down into three groups: YAT Teenz for students in Grades 8 to 12; YAT Kidz, (for Grades 3 to 7) and YAT Youngsterz, (for kindergarten through Grade 2).

Catherine teaches the two younger groups, and directed 47 children in a recent production of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."

"The impact we have, it's definitely long-term. We try to teach life skills through our classes -- discipline, respect, teamwork, dedication, motivation, creativity. Those are all skills you need for the rest of your life."

Like Catherine, Carson Meyer, a sixth-grader who played Mrs. Beauregard in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," has worked her way up to more prominent roles since she joined YAT.

"I went from being a squirrel in my first show to a parent in the last one," Carson said. "Catherine has given me so many opportunities. She has given lots of kids opportunities."

And what would Indy be like without YAT? In Carson's opinion, "Very boring."

Laura Alvarado: Director of outreach, Indianapolis Art Center

Back in college, Laura Alvarado couldn't foresee how her interests in painting and psychology might work together.

But for the past decade, the St. Louis native has used visual arts in Arizona and Central Indiana as an outreach tool in a variety of jobs.

"My first job was working with girls who were physically and sexually abused. They were in the foster care system," said Alvarado, who has been the Indianapolis Art Center's director of outreach since 2004.

"We did use art, but it was more (a combination of) art lessons and life lessons. We had to teach these very young girls what life lessons they needed, because they were on their own."

Later, Alvarado worked with Alzheimer's patients and young adults with brain injuries.

"By then, I figured out what I wanted to do," she said, "which was to make an impact through the visual arts with a population that is underserved."

At the Art Center, Alvarado has charge of five outreach programs, mainly targeted toward students ages 5 to 18. Many live in poor neighborhoods.

Those programs include Beyond Perceptions, in which high school students create art based on perceptions of homelessness before and after meeting homeless men; SMART, involving a partnership with Big Brothers and Big Sisters; ArtVan, a summer traveling art class; and ArtReach, a neighborhood-based arts education program.

"The kids we work with face multiple challenges in their lives," Alvarado said. "That can mean that they live in areas where maybe there's a lot of violence and crime. We want kids to be able to see that the arts are out there and can make a difference in the world."

Sabra J. Logan: Founder, Executive and artistic director of Iibada Dance Company

Sabra Logan can hardly believe it: Next year will be her 20th anniversary of directing a spiritual African dance troupe in Indianapolis.

After all that time, Logan's Iibada Dance Company still has its struggles. The program involving about 60 students and a 10-member corps of performers is based at 21st Century Charter School at Fall Creek, but doesn't have a facility of its own.

However, that doesn't stop Logan, a 43-year-old former kindergarten teacher, from keeping the faith, which seems fitting, considering that Iibada takes its name from the Swahili for worship.

Born and raised in Baltimore, Logan moved to Indianapolis when she was about 16. She spent nearly two decades as a kindergarten teacher. For years, she worked at Zion Hope Christian School, which ultimately provided her a venue for teaching dance.

"They found out I could dance, and asked me to do an after-school program. We had 80 kids at the onset.

"At that point, it was a hobby. It was not a job. I am now just getting into the business part of things. I just started about five years ago. I wasn't trying to make any money at it. It wasn't a money thing. It was a love thing."

Logan's dream is for Iibada to have its own facility. Meanwhile, she continues to believe in introducing youth to the company's mix of styles, ranging from jazz to African to hip-hop.

"If children have the basic fundamentals taught to them when they are first getting intrigued, they will have it with them all their lives. I think that's what happened to me."

She also believes in bringing the art of dance to children.

"If you don't," she said, "your art will die. You cannot continue to do or strive without teaching youths to move forward. You have to give, not just as a legacy, but for the art and beauty of it to continue."

Ruth Dwyer: Associate director, Indianapolis Children's Choir

Through the course of two decades with the Indianapolis Children's Choir, Ruth Dwyer has helped thousands of children become better singers.

She also has witnessed dramatic personal transformations.

The Kokomo native, who leads three Indianapolis ensembles as well as the ICC-affiliated Columbus Children's Choir, especially remembers Kaleem McGill, a boy raised on the Eastside. He began singing with the Children's Choir in fifth grade, and stayed with the group for several years.

"He's such a sweet child, and was nearly blind," Dwyer said. "While he was with us, surgery corrected his eyesight, and it was the most amazing change in a young guy....."

Dwyer called Kaleem "the epitome of a child who might not have had opportunities." She said that, by providing him musical training and performing experience locally and on tours of New York and China, the children's choir "could help give him more. At graduation one year, his class from ICC selected him to conduct a song just for us."

Dwyer has been working with children for her entire career. She was a public school music teacher for 19 years, and commuted to Indianapolis for ICC rehearsals and performances for a few years before joining the choir full time. She is now the group's director of education and associate director, and has published many arrangements and original compositions.

Dwyer's work with children has allowed her to travel far and wide. Her choirs have sung at Carnegie Hall, in Canada and South America and all over Europe.

But what difference can a children's choir really make in the lives of young people?

"I think about this more and more often," she said.

"What I think the Indianapolis Children's Choir brings to the youth of Indianapolis that is lasting is not only great artistic music -- and of course, that's our main goal .....

"Music can also bring us together, bring us a sense of community -- even when we're politically different, socially different and economically different."