Camps

Through hands-on artmaking, Minis will explore drawing, painting, and other mixed media based on the week’s theme. In addition to artmaking projects, campers will experience visits to the museum’s galleries & sculpture park, as well as games, songs, and scavenger hunts. Mini campers will have multiple breaks during the day to play with outdoor recreation time and indoor “cozy corner” play stations set-up for them to take regular breaks as needed. Our staff-to-camper ratio is intentionally low for this age group, which allows for lots of individual attention and care. 

Please note: Campers should already be attending Kindergarten or First Grade to participate in February and April break camps and be entering Kindergarten (with some full-day nursery or UPK experience) or have completed Kindergarten and be entering First Grade to participate in summer camps.

Juniors will explore drawing, painting, ceramics, and other mixed media based on the week’s theme through hands-on artmaking.

New for 2025: All Junior campers will experience a blend of Art Day Camp and Clay Camp programs—for an “Art & Clay” camp experience. Each Junior group will spend either the morning or afternoon exploring the fundamentals of ceramics, from slab to pinch and coil building, and then the other half of the day working on drawing, painting, or other artmaking projects.

In addition, campers will experience visits to the museum’s galleries & sculpture park, as well as games, songs, and scavenger hunts.  Junior campers will have multiple breaks during the day to play with outdoor recreation time and indoor “cozy corner” play stations set-up for them to take regular breaks as needed. Our staff-to-camper ratio is intentionally low for this age group, which allows for lots of individual attention and care.

Senior-age campers have the choice of enrolling in either our Art Day Camp or our Clay Camp.  

• Art Day campers will spend the full day exploring drawing, painting, and other mixed media (collage, printmaking, etc.) based on the week’s theme through hands-on projects using techniques introduced by our teaching artist instructors and high-quality materials! 
• Clay Campers will spend the full day exploring the fundamentals of ceramics from slab to pinch and coil building and have at least two experiences on the potter’s wheel. 

In addition, all campers will experience visits to the museum’s galleries & sculpture park, as well as games, songs, and scavenger hunts.  Senior campers will have multiple breaks during the day.

Teen campers can enroll in a variety of half-day programs offered throughout the camp season. Options include jewelry making, multimedia work, fiber arts programs, and portfolio-building sessions.

Browse the classes available on our Camps listing, and then register online by clicking the registration links.

Registration information questions must be completed for each camper registration. Payment in full is required at the time of registration.

When registering online, MAG Members must be SIGNED IN (upper right-hand corner of the screen) in order for discount to automatically apply!

We offer two types of camps: Art Day Camps and Clay Camps.

We are now offering three age groups for Art Day Camps:

• MINI:Ages 5–7
• JUNIOR: Ages 8–10
• SENIOR: Ages 11–13

We offer two age groups for Clay Camps:

• JUNIOR: Ages 7–9
• SENIOR: Ages 10–15

No. All camps (now including Break Weeks) in the Creative Workshop are full day, week-long camps.

Instruction begins at 9:00 am and ends at 4:30 pm, but you may drop off your child as early as 8:30 am and pick up as late as 5:00 pm. There is no extra charge for this supervised before-care and after-care.

Our curriculum emphasizes artistic skill-building (especially drawing, painting, and sculpture) through creative projects. Instructors plan flexible lessons, give thorough demonstrations, and work individually with students to help them realize their own artistic strengths. Children make confident, exciting and increasingly ambitious art projects. Check out this 2021 article in 585 Kids magazine for a sense of how and why our Camps encourage building drawing and painting skills while encouraging creativity.

No. Campers must bring a lunch, two snacks (to eat during breaks if they want) and a drink (in a non-glass container, please) from home. We recommend that snacks be packed separately from lunches so your child is not tempted to eat lunch at snack time. No refrigeration or silverware is provided.

Labeling your camper’s lunch and leak-proof beverage container helps us avoid confusion and helps your camper locate their meal. NOTE ON FOOD: To minimize allergy risks, we ask that you avoid sending foods containing nuts or nut products.

Yes! Twice a day (morning and afternoon), campers get breaks to walk, stretch, relax and enjoy a snack brought from home. During the supervised hour-long recreation break, children may choose to relax and read or draw or be actively involved in games or other physical activities (indoor or outdoor, depending on the weather).

We bring campers into the museum or onto the MAG grounds to explore the Sculpture Park at least once a week, often more. Using strategies designed to teach kids to look more carefully, our instructors help them learn to make creative decisions based on other artists’ work and realize some of the many things we all have in common.

We are an active art-studio, so NO OPEN-TOE SHOES are allowed (no flip flops or jelly shoes, please). During the mid-day recreation break you camper may be outside (weather dependent) and during that time campers are permitted to read books, use tablets or phones to play games. (The CW is not responsible for lost or broken items brought in from home).

It is recommended that campers in all camps, especially Clay Camps, wear clothing that can get messy—the clay we use is red earthenware which can stain clothing. Closed toe shoes are required in the clay studio.

The Creative Workshop has long strived to offer our classes at the lowest rates possible. If the price of a class is keeping you from considering it, please don’t hesitate to inquire about a need-based scholarship. Each year, we offer scholarships to numerous students (adults and youth) through the support of many generous endowment funds.

You may apply for a scholarship using our online form.

Online registrations automatically generate an email acknowledgment. If you did not receive this confirmation or need another copy, please contact us at creativeworkshop@mag.rochester.edu.

For your convenience and tax purposes, MAG’s Tax ID # is listed on your email confirmation.

Camps are taught by the Creative Workshop’s team of teaching-artists and teaching assistants who lead the camps in high-quality art projects, demonstrations and visits to the galleries to see original works of art in the MAG collection and exhibitions. Explore Faculty Bios to meet some of our teachers!

The Creative Workshop can be reached at: 585.276.8959 or at creativeworkshop@mag.rochester.edu.