Laurence de Groote, a registered and certified arts therapist, founded The Red Pencil (Singapore) with her husband after witnessing the distress of victims, both children and adults, of the 2004 tsunamis that hit the Indian Ocean coastlines.

Laurence was working at the Raffles Hospital in Singapore supporting children who had been caught in the waves. There, she witnessed first-hand how big a part could arts therapy play in their healing process.

Over the years since its founding in 2011, the organization has expanded its scope of activities and beneficiaries in Singapore and internationally, developing and offering arts therapy programmes in every continent. It has tried to respond to the rapid growth of societies, migration issues and the evolving needs of beneficiaries in various cultural contexts.

Today, The Red Pencil has transitioned from one single mission to a global outreach with thriving Institutions of Public Character in Singapore and Geneva, a Foundation of Public Utility in Belgium, and a Red Pencil governance office in Monaco, where Laurence now resides.