Summer Art Camp for Kids Ages 5-14
Camp 2024 dates: June 24 - August 9, 2024
REGISTER NOW!
Registration Update:
Space is available for kids 5-6 (REGISTER HERE)
and in the following camps:
Scroll down to see Camp 2024 schedule by age group.
Summer Art Camp offers weekly artistic adventures and celebrations of creativity, friendship, and fun. Campers enjoy art making of all kinds in a safe, accessible environment with highly skilled instructors.
A variety of thematic camps are designed for different age groups and involve painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, comics, and mixed-media projects in the historic studios of the oldest art school and museum in the United States.
Watch Virtual Open House
Review Camp refund policy in Youth and Family Programs Policies and Procedures before registering.
Each week of camp has a theme, and you can register for a specific week or for the whole summer, whatever works best for your family. Sessions also include age-appropriate creative play and rest times, reading and storytelling, and socializing. Campers visit museum galleries for tours led by art educators, and occasionally take walks to the nearby park (weather permitting). Every Friday, campers prepare for an Art Exhibition where their work from throughout the week is on view and family and friends of the campers are invited to the exhibition.
Email artcamp@pafa.org or call 215-972-2054 if you have any questions.
Support for Summer Camp at PAFA is provided by the Hassel Foundation.
Art Camp 2024
Dates: June 24-August 09 | Mon-Fri
Time: 9am - 3pm. Early drop off is at 8:30 am. We are unable to provide child care before 8:30 am.
Ages: 5-6 | 7-8 | 9-11 | 12-14
Comics' Camps for ages 11-14
Location: PAFA’s Historic Landmark Building. 128 N. Broad Street
PAFA is easily accessible by public transportation. For information, driving directions and parking information please go to Visit page.
Cost: $400 per week
- PAFA Household Membership tuition is $340 per week. (You must be an active member throughout the camp period. Renew or Become a Member Now).
- Multi-Camp discount: Register for 3 or more weeks of camp at one time and get $10 off per camp (great deal for sibling campers!) Please note, later additions to camp registration do not qualify for the discount.
- Payment plan is available.
Art Camp 2024 Schedule by Age Group
Check the registration website to see current status of camps availability. Some camps are full.
Ages 5-6 | REGISTER NOW! | ||
| 1 | Artist Garden | 6/24/2024 | Get inspired by the “Artists as Cultivators” exhibition and create your own artistic garden where anything can grow; you only have to imagine it! |
| 2 | Art Explorers | 7/1/2024 | Discover a variety of art-making techniques, while learning new artistic and social skills. Let us draw, paint, collage, and sculpt, make friends, and have fun. |
| 3 | Animal Kingdom | 7/8/2024 | Draw, paint and sculpt furry, feathery, and scaly creatures! Animals large and small will feature as subjects all week. Roaring, squeaking, barking, and quacking are welcome while we make wild, and wildly creative artworks. |
| 4 | Color Wonders | 7/15/2024 | Get creative AND get messy as you discover the multiple qualities of color! Invent insane color combinations and make phenomenal, unique art projects. |
| 5 | Under the Sea | 7/22/2024 | Cool off and dive down deep into the world of sea creatures. Have fun with ocean-themed art and creative play. |
| 6 | Movie Adventures | 7/29/2024 | Make this week a Movies-inspired art adventure! Express yourself and create fantastic art inspired by your favorite movies and shows! |
| 7 | Imaginarium | 8/5/2024 | Unleash your imagination and let it lead you to creating the most outstandingly impossible artworks and thingamajigs fathomable. c |
Ages 7-8 | REGISTER NOW! | ||
| 1 | Sculptural Creations | 6/24/2024 | Get creative with surprising tools and materials as well as traditional methods of sculpture! Learn cool sculpting tips and tricks to help you make your best, most exciting, 3-D projects. |
| 2 | Paint Extravaganza | 7/1/2024 | Develop the ins and outs of painting as you propel your creativity! Invent and play with surprising color combinations. Use them to make a rainbow’s worth of art projects. |
| 3 | Magic Academy | 7/8/2024 | Calling all wizards-in-training to create enchanting creatures and master illusions. Make any spellbound artwork imaginable. Have fun, make friends, and explore the magical world of art. |
| 4 | Art Adventures | 7/15/2024 | Embrace adventurous art-making, inspired by the world around you! Make paintings, prints and sculptures from unexpected materials, found objects, toys, shells, flowers and more! |
| 5 | Art Detectives | 7/22/2024 | Put on your detective’s hat and grab your magnifying glass as you uncover the secrets and solve the mysteries of PAFA's historic museum. |
| 6 | Superheroes | 7/29/2024 | Create a multiverse of fantastic art inspired by your favorite movies, comic characters or games. Design your own superheroes and share their stories with new camp friends. |
| 7 | Mix and Match | 8/5/2024 | Jazz-up ordinary objects and materials into one-of-a-kind treasures and unique works of art. DIY recyclers welcome! |
Ages 11-14 | COMICS ACADEMY - REGISTER NOW | ||
| 1 | Foundations of Comics | 7/8/2024 | Uncover the basics of cartoon drawing in comic books, including anatomy, 3D shapes, and perspective. Master principles of character development and design - tools you need to create a dynamic comic book. |
| 2 | Graphic Novel 101 | 7/15/2024 | Join the generation of artists telling visual stories. Explore character development and storyboarding while visualizing your own story with innovative layout styles and drawing techniques. |
| 3 | Comics and Illustration | 7/22/2024 | Hone your comic and illustration art making skills, while improving your drawing techniques and discovering the ins and outs of character development, comics creation, poster design, and more. |
| 4 | Comics and Beyond | 7/29/2024 | Expand your comic drawing skills and discover a wide range of tools and must-know concepts for creating dynamic and exciting sequential artwork. |
Ages 9-11 | CAMPS ARE FULL - JOIN THE WAITING LIST | ||
| 1 | Intro To Drawing | 6/24/2024 | Turn your doodles into artworks! Learn to draw human figures, animals, and nature, creating scenes from both observation and imagination. |
| 2 | Intro to Comics | 7/1/2024 | Learn about the artistic tradition of comic books. Develop your cartoon drawing skills while creating your own heroes and villains to design an eye-catching cover for your own comic book. |
| 3 | Experimental Art | 7/8/2024 | Experiment with materials, tools, and techniques of art-making to create exciting and unexpected artworks. |
| 4 | Intro to Animation | 7/15/2024 | Bring your drawings to life! Discover a variety of animation techniques using both PAFA’s state-of-the-art digital facilities and more traditional methods of animation. |
| 5 | Intro to Sculpture | 7/22/2024 | Explore the unique qualities of sculptural art learning a variety of techniques, foundational principles, types of materials, and a wide range of approaches. |
| 6 | Science of Art | 7/29/2024 | Explore how art and science work together as you learn to make beautiful illustrations, designs and diagrams. Dive into a variety of art media, deepen your knowledge of color theory, and investigate the nature of perception. |
| 7 | Intro to Painting | 8/5/2024 | Embark on a creative journey into the art of painting. Learn about tools, basic color-mixing, composition, and form. Try your hand with acrylics, watercolors, as well as tempera paints. |
Ages 12-14 | CAMPS ARE FULL - JOIN THE WAITING LIST | ||
| 1 | Art Foundations | 6/24/2024 | Develop your foundational skills in traditional art-making methods and explore some experimental techniques, while strengthening and diversifying your skills and use of materials. |
| 2 | Drawing | 7/1/2024 | Learn to draw like a master with techniques that focus on light, contour, texture, and figure drawing in PAFA’s historic Cast Hall. |
| 3 | Animation | 7/8/2024 | Discover essential animation skills and uncover some secrets as you collaborate with other campers in bringing original artwork to life. |
| 4 | Mixed Media | 7/15/2024 | Dive into a variety of art-making tools and techniques and nurture your creativity to make art beyond pencils on paper. |
| 5 | Painting | 7/22/2024 | Advance your painting skills and learn techniques in acrylic paint engaging with still-life, interiors, abstraction, portraits, and other subjects. |
| 6 | Sculptural Explorations | 7/29/2024 | Dig into fundamental methods of 3D art and create a variety of sculptural projects using clay, wood, found objects and recycled materials. |
| 7 | Printing 101 | 8/5/2024 | Stamp, carve, and print as you explore the many ways to transfer images, from traditional block printing to experimental one-of-a-kind methods you can replicate at home. |
After Camp Club
While camp is over, adventures continue in the after camp club. Register for the full week or for a selected days, in advance or the day of.
Time: 3:00pm-5:30pm.
Cost: $150 per week. Single day registration - $35 per day.
Art Camp Adventures
Additional Information
Masks: Optional
Lunch and Snacks
A mid-morning nut-free snack is provided.
Campers bring their own lunches every day; PLEASE supply nut-free lunches. Note, we are not able to refrigerate or heat lunches. Please label your camper’s lunch bag with their name.
Water: Campers bring their own water bottles. Camp staff will supply filtered water to refill the bottles.
Supplies: All supplies are provided for each camp.
Monday: Campers check into their camps on Monday mornings between 8:30 and 9am. A brief introduction and orientation to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts takes place, and campers tour the buildings with their individual camps.
Wacky Wednesdays: Fun themed up day!
Friday Exhibition: As always, the campers will stage an End of Week Camp Exhibition.
Clothing: Art camp may get messy! Please dress appropriately. Staff will make every effort to keep campers neat and clean, but campers should wear clothing that can get dirty. Also, campers may want to bring a sweater or sweatshirt in case they feel cold in the museum.
Lost and Found: There will be a Lost and Found kept in the Camp Office. PLEASE LABEL YOUR CHILD’S BELONGINGS WITH THEIR NAME! Please email artcamp@pafa.org or call 215-972-2054 if you need assistance in finding a lost item and/or to arrange the pickup. All items must be picked up before September 1, otherwise they will be discarded.
Daily Schedule
Monday8:30-9:00- Arrival and Check in 9:00-9:30 - Orientation and Camp tour for campers 9:30 – 10:15 Session 1 10:15 -10:30 Snack Break 10:30 – 12:00 Session 2 12:00 – 1:00 Lunch 1:15 – 3:00 Session 3 3:00 – 3:15 Dismissal | Tuesday – Thursday8:30 – 9:00 Drop Off 9:00 – 10:15 Session 1 10:15 -10:30 Snack Break 10:30 – 12:00 Session 2 12:00– 1:00 Lunch 1:15 – 3:00 Session 3 3:00 – 3:15 Dismissal | Friday8:30 – 9:00 Drop Off 9:00 – 10:15 Session 1 10:15 -10:30 Snack Break 10:30 – 12:00 Session 2 12:00– 1:00 Lunch 1:15 - 2:00 Session 3: Exhibition Preparation 2:15–2:30 – Week-at-a-Glance camp highlights slideshow at the Auditorium. 2:30–3:00 – Camp exhibition in the Cast Hall studios. 2:55–3:15 – Artwork pick up and dismissal (we ask not to remove your camper’s artwork before 2:55pm so all families can enjoy the show) |
Scholarships - Waiting List only!
PLEASE NOTE THAT PRESENTLY, SCHOLARSHIPS ARE NO LONGER AVAILABLE.
You may still fill out the application and join the waiting list. We will notify you if more funds become available. Thank you for your understanding.
It is our sincere desire that no child be denied the opportunity to attend camp because of financial difficulties. Thanks to our generous donors, PAFA is able to offer a limited number of scholarships that could be applied for one week of camp, and cover up to 75% of the tuition. One scholarship per child. You will be expected to pay a $100 deposit at the time of the registration.
The decision is based on the following criteria:
- Financial need
- Age (must be 5-14 years old)
- Commitment to attend the program at PAFA
- Availability
Please allow at least 3 weeks for processing. DO NOT REGISTER PRIOR to receiving a scholarship notification letter as the scholarship cannot be applied retrospectively. Scholarship camp registration must be separate from any additional camps. You will be expected to pay a $100 deposit at the time of the registration. Scholarship camp registration must be separate from any additional camps.
Support for Summer Camp at PAFA is provided by the Hassel Foundation.
Contact Us
PAFA offers programs for artists and art lovers of all ages and skill levels who want to learn about and make art.