Creativity Camp
Hyde Park Art Center, 5020 S. Cornell Avenue, Chicago, IL 60615
About
Creativity Camp includes activities such as painting, drawing, sculpting, sewing, interactive magic tricks, puppet shows, plays, short videos, ceramics, stop motion, audio storytelling, natural dye, digital photography, and puppet making. Mixed Media Camps include drawing, painting, sculpture, mixed-media, performance, theatre, and outdoor play, and Aftercare includes small art projects, games, and outdoor play. Special Topics Camps include sessions such as Youth Ceramics: Home is where __________. Fill in the Blank!, Mini Mini- Exploring the Art of Miniatures, Photography Beyond Your Phone, Pulp Please!, Why are you SEW mad?, Building A Library, Bangles, Dangles, Rings, & Things- Designing a Wearable Art Collection, Monster Puppets, Stop Motion Animation, Jam Session, and Zine Creations.
• Ages: 4–13 years old
• Schedule: Creativity Camp 2026 runs June 8–August 21, Monday–Friday, 9am–3pm, with visual arts from 9am–12pm and performance creation from 12pm–3pm; Mixed Media Camps are mostly two-week sessions and Special Topics Camps are one-week arts intensives, with Aftercare offered Monday–Friday, 3pm–5pm
• Price: After-Care is $100/week.
Mixed Media Camp sessions run in six sessions between June 8 and August 21, with Session 1 as a one-week camp and Sessions 2–6 as two-week camps. Special Topics Camps run in one-week sessions from June 8 through August 21, each focused on a specific theme such as ceramics, miniatures, photography, sewing, wearable art, puppets, stop motion animation, music, or zines. Registration for Creativity Camp sessions opens on February 3 at 12pm CST, and campers must be pre-registered for Aftercare at least two weeks before the start of a camp session.
Creativity Camp is led by professional artists in multimedia studios and works with recognized teaching artists and educators based in Chicago’s artistic community. Teaching artists lead camp sessions that draw on their professional education experience and creative practices, and they are assisted by emerging youth artists known as Creativity Camp Teen Assistants. Aftercare is led and supervised by a Teaching Artist with additional support from Teen Assistant(s).
Campers are grouped by grade ranges: Group A (Rising PreK–Rising 1st Grade), Group B (Rising 2nd Grade–Rising 3rd Grade), Group C (Rising 4th Grade–Rising 5th Grade), and Rising 6th Grade–Rising 8th Grade for Special Topics Camps. Campers must have prior experience in a full-day academic setting, be able to independently use the restroom, and must be ages 4–13 years old, with age limits described as firm and set for the safety and enjoyment of campers and staff. The registration system does not allow registration for the same listing twice, so siblings in the same camp group and multiple campers in Aftercare must be registered using separate accounts, and the program cannot accommodate late pick-ups for Aftercare, with families asked to arrive promptly at 5pm.
Each day at Creativity Camp includes projects and experimentation with a variety of materials and techniques inspired by current exhibitions, and campers visit galleries and often create artwork inspired by artists on display. Curator tours and meeting artists are included in each session, and every Mixed Media Camp session has its own theme, with families able to enroll in multiple sessions. Mixed Media Camps combine visual art media in the mornings and performing art techniques in the afternoons, and are complemented by field trips and outdoor play, while Special Topics Camps are arts intensives for emerging youth artists that are often inspired by original artwork from current exhibitions or artist practices.
Hyde Park Art Center has been stimulating and sustaining the visual arts in Chicago since 1939 and describes its mission as stimulating and sustaining the visual arts in Chicago. The Art Center offers exhibitions, artist talks, studio art classes, an international residency program, free public events, and professional development opportunities for artists, and currently offers 20 exhibitions, 200+ studio classes, hosts artists from around the world, welcomes 45,000 visitors, and holds 200+ free events every year. One participant describes the Art Center by saying, “It’s not just about art, it’s about connecting people to one another through art.”
Hyde Park Art Center is described as a hub for contemporary arts in Chicago, serving as a gathering and production space for artists and the broader community to cultivate ideas, impact social change, and connect with new networks. Its outreach programs in historically underserved neighborhoods bring the visual arts to Chicago youth, their teachers, and their families, and the Art Center brings artists and communities together to support creativity at every level and develops programming that engages diverse audiences in the work of Chicago’s artists. The Art Center describes itself as functioning as an amplifier for today and tomorrow’s creative voices, providing space to cultivate and create new work and connections.
The leadership and staff connected to the Art Center and its programs include Co-Executive Directors Jen Tremblay Chambers and Aaron Rodgers; Director of Exhibitions & Residency Mariela Acuña; Exhibitions & Residency Managers Gabriel Chalfin-Piney-González and Tran Tran; Preparator Liang-Yu Huang; Director of Education Mike Nourse; Ceramics Department Head Brian Parris and Ceramics Department Technician Mez Earhart; Director of Partnerships Gregory Smith; Teen Programs Coordinator Harley Reid; Senior Manager of School and Studios Allison Cochrane; Youth and School Programs Manager Sarita Garcia; Director of Development Eric Thompson; Institutional Giving Manager Alex Jania; Development Coordinator Lindsay Lees; Marketing and Communications Manager Beyza Ozer; Director of Finance Devon L. Hall; Senior Manager of Finance & Operations Jacquelyn Carmen Guerrero; Student Services Coordinator Aja Andrews; Operations and Public Events Manager Rosé Hernandez; Executive Assistant Emma Bergman; and Senior Caretaker Michelle Nordmeyer.
Last updated April 18, 2026.
• Ages: 4–13 years old
• Schedule: Creativity Camp 2026 runs June 8–August 21, Monday–Friday, 9am–3pm, with visual arts from 9am–12pm and performance creation from 12pm–3pm; Mixed Media Camps are mostly two-week sessions and Special Topics Camps are one-week arts intensives, with Aftercare offered Monday–Friday, 3pm–5pm
• Price: After-Care is $100/week.
Mixed Media Camp sessions run in six sessions between June 8 and August 21, with Session 1 as a one-week camp and Sessions 2–6 as two-week camps. Special Topics Camps run in one-week sessions from June 8 through August 21, each focused on a specific theme such as ceramics, miniatures, photography, sewing, wearable art, puppets, stop motion animation, music, or zines. Registration for Creativity Camp sessions opens on February 3 at 12pm CST, and campers must be pre-registered for Aftercare at least two weeks before the start of a camp session.
Creativity Camp is led by professional artists in multimedia studios and works with recognized teaching artists and educators based in Chicago’s artistic community. Teaching artists lead camp sessions that draw on their professional education experience and creative practices, and they are assisted by emerging youth artists known as Creativity Camp Teen Assistants. Aftercare is led and supervised by a Teaching Artist with additional support from Teen Assistant(s).
Campers are grouped by grade ranges: Group A (Rising PreK–Rising 1st Grade), Group B (Rising 2nd Grade–Rising 3rd Grade), Group C (Rising 4th Grade–Rising 5th Grade), and Rising 6th Grade–Rising 8th Grade for Special Topics Camps. Campers must have prior experience in a full-day academic setting, be able to independently use the restroom, and must be ages 4–13 years old, with age limits described as firm and set for the safety and enjoyment of campers and staff. The registration system does not allow registration for the same listing twice, so siblings in the same camp group and multiple campers in Aftercare must be registered using separate accounts, and the program cannot accommodate late pick-ups for Aftercare, with families asked to arrive promptly at 5pm.
Each day at Creativity Camp includes projects and experimentation with a variety of materials and techniques inspired by current exhibitions, and campers visit galleries and often create artwork inspired by artists on display. Curator tours and meeting artists are included in each session, and every Mixed Media Camp session has its own theme, with families able to enroll in multiple sessions. Mixed Media Camps combine visual art media in the mornings and performing art techniques in the afternoons, and are complemented by field trips and outdoor play, while Special Topics Camps are arts intensives for emerging youth artists that are often inspired by original artwork from current exhibitions or artist practices.
Hyde Park Art Center has been stimulating and sustaining the visual arts in Chicago since 1939 and describes its mission as stimulating and sustaining the visual arts in Chicago. The Art Center offers exhibitions, artist talks, studio art classes, an international residency program, free public events, and professional development opportunities for artists, and currently offers 20 exhibitions, 200+ studio classes, hosts artists from around the world, welcomes 45,000 visitors, and holds 200+ free events every year. One participant describes the Art Center by saying, “It’s not just about art, it’s about connecting people to one another through art.”
Hyde Park Art Center is described as a hub for contemporary arts in Chicago, serving as a gathering and production space for artists and the broader community to cultivate ideas, impact social change, and connect with new networks. Its outreach programs in historically underserved neighborhoods bring the visual arts to Chicago youth, their teachers, and their families, and the Art Center brings artists and communities together to support creativity at every level and develops programming that engages diverse audiences in the work of Chicago’s artists. The Art Center describes itself as functioning as an amplifier for today and tomorrow’s creative voices, providing space to cultivate and create new work and connections.
The leadership and staff connected to the Art Center and its programs include Co-Executive Directors Jen Tremblay Chambers and Aaron Rodgers; Director of Exhibitions & Residency Mariela Acuña; Exhibitions & Residency Managers Gabriel Chalfin-Piney-González and Tran Tran; Preparator Liang-Yu Huang; Director of Education Mike Nourse; Ceramics Department Head Brian Parris and Ceramics Department Technician Mez Earhart; Director of Partnerships Gregory Smith; Teen Programs Coordinator Harley Reid; Senior Manager of School and Studios Allison Cochrane; Youth and School Programs Manager Sarita Garcia; Director of Development Eric Thompson; Institutional Giving Manager Alex Jania; Development Coordinator Lindsay Lees; Marketing and Communications Manager Beyza Ozer; Director of Finance Devon L. Hall; Senior Manager of Finance & Operations Jacquelyn Carmen Guerrero; Student Services Coordinator Aja Andrews; Operations and Public Events Manager Rosé Hernandez; Executive Assistant Emma Bergman; and Senior Caretaker Michelle Nordmeyer.
Last updated April 18, 2026.
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