12 Great Summer Art Camps for Los Angeles Kids

Camp and art go together like, well, crayons and coloring books. But sometimes our kids are hankering after a little more than just a coloring sheet or a pile of popsicle sticks and glitter glue. If your family's goals for summer involve more artistic education than LAUSD is able to muster up these days, then one of the camps below is probably for you. If, on the other hand, you had your heart set on sending the kids outside for a summerful of fresh air, be sure to check our suggestions for classic outdoor summer camps and horse riding camps, too - or check our whole camp guide!

Art Center for Kids
Art Center College of Design
950 South Raymond Ave.
Pasadena, CA 91105
626.396.2319
Mon-Fri 9am-12pm
$260/week
Ages 9 and up
The Art Center in Pasadena is definitely more art than camp, but for a kid who really loves the fine arts the Art Center College of Design offers some wonderful opportunities. Classes include topics like architecture, cartooning, print-making, fashion sketching, and photography. Each session is one week long and completes a single subject. These are only half days, so it's not necessarily a big help to a working parent, but families with flexible schedules love the depth of instruction.

The Art Grist
4730 Crystal Springs Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90027
310.293.6302
Mon-Fri 9am-3pm (aftercare available)
$325/week
Ages 5-12
Located in Griffith Park, The Art Grist Art Camp offers eight weeks of artistic exploration under big shady trees, and on sketching hikes through the park. Each week takes on a different in-depth topic - including photography, fashion design, water color, sculpture, and graphic novels - led by teachers from Los Feliz Charter School for the Arts.

Art Rebel
14382 Ventura Blvd.
Sherman Oaks, Ca 91423
818.784.2010
Mon-Fri 9:30am-4pm
Half day $250/week; Full day $450/week
Ages 5 and up
Plenty of grown-ups know Art Rebel for its evening events that intersperse art activities with dinner and drinks; it's a favorite among artsy-heartsy Valley parents on date night. Fewer folks may realize that the only-nominally-rebellious studio also offers a great selection in summer art camps. The camps run all summer long in week-long sessions (10 weeks in total), with a different art theme each week; topics include cartooning, fashion, green art, multi-media, and graffiti (ah, that will be where the rebel comes in).

Brentwood Art Center
13031 Montana Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90049
310.451.5657
Mon-Fri 10am-3pm
Prices start at $85/day
Ages 5-13
There are summer camps that do a little art; then there are art schools that do a little camp. Brentwood Art Center has a long track record of excellence in art instruction for all ages, and kids who spend a week or three learning from the faculty here definitely expand their fine arts education. Camps run in one- or two-week sessions, with half days for five and six year-olds and full days for ages seven and up. Drawing, painting, sculpting, and print-making are on the syllabus.

ClayCamp
4130 Greenbush Ave.
Sherman Oaks, Ca 91423
818.905.8300
Mon-Thu 9:30am-12:30pm or 1:30pm-4:30pm
$480/two-week session
Ages 6-16
ClayCamp is just what the name implies, with kids plunging gloriously up to their elbows in wet clay, spinning, pinching, and sculpting with abandon. Six sessions are offered over the course of the summer, each two weeks long. Kids ages 6-11 attend the morning session, while ages 11-16 go in the afternoons. And at the end of the day, lots of ceramic masterpieces come home.

Hands-on Third
8377 W. Third Street
Los Angeles, CA 90048
323.655.0515
Mon-Fri 9:30am-2pm
$420/week
Ages 6-13
Hands-on Third is a place where stuff gets made (on Third). Camp themes generally include fashion - known as Project Funway - and a variety of craft projects that range from mosaics to terrariums. Individual camp sessions are limited to eight campers, with snack and all materials provided.

KiDazzle Art Studios
1931 N Gaffey Street Suites F & G
San Pedro, CA 90731
310.832.2777
Mon-Fri 7am-3pm (extended care available until 6pm)
Half day $15/day; Full day $35/day
Ages 4-12
Feel free to take a moment to rub your eyes and read that again, because, yes, KiDazzle has the best art camp deal in town. Working parents will be particularly agog to learn that the extended day, 7am-6pm schedule, costs only $45 per day. Art lessons, painting, and crafts make up about half the day, with games, field trips, computer time, movies, and even some academics filling in the rest.

McGroarty Arts Center
7570 McGroarty Terrace
Tujunga, CA 91042
818.352.5285
McGroarty Arts Center has been running popular and affordable once-a-week art camps for Valley kids for years and is planning to expand into a full-week, summer-long arts camp in 2012. Details are still unfolding; check back here or on the McGroarty website for details as they become available.

Paint Lab
2912 Main Street
Santa Monica, CA 90405
310.450.9200
Mon-Fri 9am-4pm
Half day $50; Full day $100 (weekly rate TBA)
Ages 5-12
Paint Lab is a studio for serious artists - that's seriously fun for kids. Blocks from the beach, Santa Monica's uber-artsy Main Street is a great place to don a beret and feel the vibe. The breezy, secluded patio is splattered with just enough paint to inspire creativity without inspiring a clean-up, and the walls of the indoor space are bedecked with paintings done by the grown-ups who spend their evenings here sipping wine and talking of Michelangelo. Kids learn real painting techniques, sketching skills, and art theory - but with no stuffiness or lecturing. Paint Lab's teachers really get kids and know how to send them out into the world wanting to create more art. A week - or even a day - at this camp is a real treat.

Palos Verdes Art Center
5504 Crestridge Road
Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 90275
310.541.2479
Mon-Fri 9am-4pm
Half day $200/week; Full day $270/week
Ages 5-12
Palos Verdes "Art-rageous" Art Camps offer five or six weeks of programming each summer (as well as on other school holidays and vacations). Each week features a different artistic theme.

reDiscover
12958 W. Washington Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90066
310.393.3636
Mon-Fri 9am-3pm (after-care available until 5pm)
Ages 7-9 $400/week; Ages 10-13 $450/week
What goes on at reDiscover's summer camp might not be fine art in the purest sense of the words, but it sure is creative, and oh-so-worthwhile! The summer program at the Mecca of all things recycled is known as Tinker School, and the tinkering knows no bounds. Kids use real tools and materials to solve real problems, creating articles of wonder out of articles of discard - supervised on a 4:1 teacher/student ratio. You'll be amazed at what kids can create and learn using stuff that big companies were about to throw away.

Smart Space
Culver West Alexander Park Recreation Room
4162 Wade St., Culver City, CA 90232
310.399.0137
Mon-Fri 9am-2pm
$250/week
Ages 5-12
Smart Space is classic summer camp art at its best. Held in the recreation center at Culver West Park - and outdoors under the trees, too - Smart Space dedicates its days to the kinds of art projects that seem to smell of summer all year long. Hands get messy, creativity gets expressed, and joy imbues all. Check for other possible locations on the Smart Space website as summer draws closer; rumor has it that the camp will be spreading to a couple of other Westside parks.

Be sure to check out our dozen suggestions for kids' cooking camps, too!