Children's Art Classes - Lakewood Ranch–Sarasota

Children's Art Classes - Lakewood Ranch–Sarasota is a studio-based fine art program where students work in drawing, painting, design, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, digital art, polymer clay, anime, and kawaii creations. The program offers study in over 40 areas of art, and students can continue classes year after year without repeating a project. Summer Workshops are an a la carte version of the school year curriculum and are open for registration.

• Ages: 3–18 years old
• Schedule: Summer Workshops meet daily, Monday to Friday for the week; nine-month programs of study are also offered.

Children’s Art Classes was established in 1997 and has been serving communities for almost 25 years. The program has expanded to over a dozen locations and has a 100% graduation rate, with many students receiving art scholarships or pursuing higher education in art. All teachers are CAC trained, and the program was founded by Barbara Gay, founder of Children’s Art Classes. Its mission is to provide a comprehensive art education program that enriches lives, raises self-esteem, and improves the academic performance of its students. This award-winning program has gained recognition for the outstanding artwork of its students and was named Art Classes Provider of the Year by Education Insider, and it has been featured on local FOX 13 News. Homeschool families are served through a partnership with Step Up for Students, and the program accepts eligible scholarship funds through the Education Market Assistant (EMA) portal.

Parent feedback includes comments about students building art portfolios over multiple years, gaining confidence and creativity, and using work from the program to enter art school. Parents also describe their children benefiting from homeschool art classes and summer camp programming with projects in clay, pencil, and pastels, and they note an end-of-year art show where students display the work they completed during the year.

Last updated May 31, 2026.