Gilchrist Art Camp

Gilchrist Art Camp offers activities such as ceramics, collage, several forms of print making, acrylic paintings on fine acrylic paper or canvas, and encaustic painting using hot wax. Campers work on recycled sculptures, themed projects, candle making, soap and bath bomb making, silk screening, tie-dye t-shirts, wood working, drawing, glass mosaics, glass fusion, and color theory, along with outdoor activities and games that include both teamwork and individual practice. Camps are thoughtfully designed to build, create, and reconstruct art through the use of found, recycled, and used material, and they utilize professional-grade paints and fine art products.

• Ages: 5–12 years old
• Schedule: Weekly themed camps all summer long, Monday–Friday with camp hours from 9:30am–3:30pm and pre/post care available from 8am–5pm
• Price: $480 SUMMER CAMPS

Each week is filled with as many projects as possible while still enjoying and appreciating the process, and weekly themed camps run all summer long, with additional weeks for several themes offered due to high demand. Campers are divided into smaller groups within camp so counselors can work with their group at their creative skill level, and repeat camps offer the exact same projects as the first dates. Gilchrist Art Camp is described as a happy and messy place for creativity to exist.

Lisa Gilchrist Peterson started Gilchrist Art Camp in 2007 with the goal of giving children the materials and atmosphere to develop their creativity in a professional and fun environment, and the camp has been running since 2007. Counselors at Gilchrist Art Camp are hand-picked for their creative abilities, teaching skills, child care experience, and their love for kids and all things messy. The program’s stated goal is to give kids their best week or weeks of summer, and it focuses on offering campers the newest materials and an atmosphere that allows them to develop their skills in a fun and positive environment.

Parents describe Gilchrist Art Camp as a place where projects often use recycled materials in inventive ways and where the environment is low-key and relaxed, with children coming home proud of their work, happy, tired, dirty, and creatively fulfilled. One parent notes that their child has attended for several years and that there is always a new creative project, and another parent shares that their daughter calls it her favorite camp and that the camp often adds extra camps on no-school days. A third parent reports that their kids now attend most weeks of the summer, that staff mix up projects and themes to keep campers entertained all summer long, and that several of the children’s pieces are displayed at home.

Last updated June 26, 2026.