Arts Summer Camps in the San Francisco Bay Area

boy painting mural

Arts Camps are a fun and creative summer activity. Most camps are held at art schools, studios, or museums. Check out the Art, Cooking, Movie Making, and Writing Camps below.

Featured Art Camps

Lascaux Academy (art & language) ~ Belmont
Popular art camp! Winter camp, spring camp, summer camp and intersession camp. Watercolor, mixed-media, ceramics, comics. Over 15 types of high-end art supplies. 60 watercolors. Our teachers show detailed drawing and painting instruction. Spacious, mellow and fun environment. Plenty of parking.

Camp Edmo ~ Peninsula, South Bay, San Francisco, Marin & East Bay Locations
Get more out of camp this summer! Camp Edmo is for kids pre-K—entering 4th grade to explore, create, have fun and grow. Our Arts & Science and Animation activities are designed by Edventure More in partnership with the California Academy of Sciences, Children’s Creativity Museum and MOCHA.

Camp EdTech ~ Peninsula, South Bay, San Francisco, Marin & East Bay Locations
Make your summer, make digital media art! Camp EdTech teaches entering 5th – 9th graders how to create their own video games, digital movies, photographs, soundtracks, graphic designs, and animations. Taught by industry pros and designed by Edventure More in partnership with the Children’s Creativity Museum, the Bay Area’s premier digital arts museum!

iD Tech Camps ~ Stanford, Berkeley, Santa Clara, Moraga, Sacramento
Love gaming, programming, or filming? Develop hobbies and interests into so much more. Over 130,000 students ages 7-17 have learned to create iPhone apps, programs, video games, websites, movies, 3D models, robots, and films. Enroll in weeklong, day and overnight programs at 60 universities throughout the Bay Area and nationwide. Small classes (guaranteed max 8:1) taught by adult-only instructors with Teens, pre-Teens, and younger students separated into different classes. Check out Sports & Tech with Stanford Athletics as well as Teen Academies focused on Programming, Gaming and Filmmaking/Photography. Accredited Continuing Education Units available. Also, year-round learning opportunities.

iD Gaming Academy ~ Stanford
Are you a gamer? Imagine 250 hours living, dreaming & breathing gaming. Prove that gaming is more than a hobby & gain a competitive edge for college/future careers. Immerse in video game creation, build a portfolio, interact w/pros & play in game tournaments. Courses: 3D Modeling, Level Design, Programming for Xbox 360, or iPhone/Android Game Dev. 2-week overnight program for ages 13-18 w/small classes (guaranteed max 8:1) taught by top-tier instructors with impressive backgrounds. Held at universities including Stanford, Harvard, Emory, and more. Accredited Continuing Education Units available. Also, year-round learning opportunities.

iD Visual Arts Academy ~ Stanford
Spend 2 weeks engaging in creative expression taking photos and making movies! Teens beginner to advanced use Photoshop, After Effects or Final Cut Pro to create portfolios. Explore historic cities & college campuses for the perfect backdrop. Photography and Filmmaking Courses: iD Film Studios 101 (pre to post-production filmmaking), Visual FX, or Professional Photography. Instructors with visual arts backgrounds teach in small classes (guaranteed max 8:1). Also, year-round learning opportunities. Held at Stanford & NYU.

Camp Galileo ~ 21 locations in San Francisco, Marin, East Bay, South Bay and the Peninsula
Camp Galileo is the only Bay Area summer day camp for pre-K to rising 5th graders that encourages kids to brainstorm, create and think like innovators through the Galileo Innovation Approach. Each week-long summer camp session centers around an imaginative story or theme, which inspires art, science and outdoor projects for campers to explore. Summer 2012’s four brand-new themes include Galileo Olympics - Greek Art and Celebrate the Golden Gate Bridge – SF Art and Bridge Engineering.

Galileo Summer Quest ~ 10 locations in Corte Madera, Oakland, Palo Alto, San Francisco, San Mateo, Saratoga, Lafayette, North Fremont, Sunnyvale and Woodside
Designed especially for 5th to 8th graders, Galileo Summer Quest is an immersive and exciting Bay Area summer camp that lets campers dive deeply into majors they love. Fantastic mentors and small, team-oriented classes inspire campers to pursue a new craft, create new friendships and build the skills to make their ideas reality. Summer 2012 features brand-new unique curriculum especially created for 5th-8th graders. Major options include Go-Kart Makers, Fashion Design, Video Game Design and Chefology.

Sewnow! Fashion Studio ~ Lafayette
Have a fun week in our exciting studio learning fashion design and sewing. Learn new skills, express your creativity, and walk away with unique fashion items. Half or full day, beginner to advanced, summers and other holiday breaks.

Pacific Coast Kids Summer Camp ~ Palo Alto & Los Altos
Pacific Coast Kids offers three camp themes: Jewelry, Fashion & Artistic Design, Science, and Lego Camps. Kid-loved and parent-recommended, our camps bring a special experience to the campers by extending learning into the summer through fun-filled projects and activities. Unique in design and taught by credentialed and experienced teachers, our innovative camps will bring excitement to your child all summer long. For children entering grades K-6.

Digital Media Academy ~ Stanford
Accredited by Stanford University, Digital Media Academy has been ranked as one of the world’s best computer and digital arts summer camps for Teens (ages 12-18), and Kids (ages 6-12). No other camp offers DMA’s unique, high-tech experience. Instructors are industry professionals sharing their knowledge. Campers get hands-on experience while taking part in high tech adventures! Campers create and develop their own unique projects in a sophisticated and exciting learning environment. Enjoy day camp or residential experiences that provide a pre-college environment at locations across the US and Canada.

Nueva Summer ~ Hillsborough
Nueva Summer offers a unique and dynamic camp environment where your child can Imagine, Create and Explore. Located on The Nueva School’s beautiful 33 acres, Nueva Summer puts a playful summer spin on Nueva’s mission of inspiring each child’s passion for learning, social emotional acuity and imaginative mind. We offer over 30 engaging, small camps for PreK-8th graders with themes and activities such as History’s Mysteries, Outdoor Adventures, Capoiera and Young Doctors to name a few!

Ace Academics ~ Fremont, Los Altos, Palo Alto, San Mateo, Saratoga
Ace Academics mission is to develop and support excellent thinking, speaking, and writing skills to enhance academic performance by fortifying language arts, and to encourage the effective self-expression skills necessary to demonstrate mastery. Our programs are designed to demystify the art of the written and spoken word to Express Yourself! with confidence.

Extended Year De Anza College ~ Cupertino
A summer enrichment program for kids and teens entering 1st through 10th grades: classes are for students performing academically at or above grade level. We also partner with the Euphrat Museum of Art to provide art classes taught by working artists with Master's Degrees in Fine Arts.

JCCSF Arts & Specialty Camps ~ San Francisco
JCCSF Specialty Camps, grades K – 8, offer thrilling, in-depth exploration into Musical Theater, Visual Arts, Dance and more. With roles for beginners and veterans, Musical Theater culminates in a performance in Kanbar Hall! Visual Art campers get creative in the studio and also look for inspiration in local landscapes.

California Adventure Camps ~ Walnut Creek
California Adventure Camps offers Media Arts Specialty Camps including Television Production, Beginner Movie Making and Newsroom / Journalism Camps for ages 9-16. Campers learn behind the scenes specialties, screenplay, storyboarding, acting, T.V., Newsroom and Movie Production, Editing, Journalism, Directing and much more.

Intro to Studio Production Camp at Mountain View Community Television ~ Mountain View
Intro to Studio Production (ages 10-14) introduces youth to media production. Students will use KMVT’s professional studio and equipment to gain basic skills in screenwriting, storyboarding, camera work, lighting, directing, sound design, acting, and editing. Students will produce an entire production, which will be broadcast on cable Channel KMVT15!

The Walt Disney Family Museum Discovery Summer Camp ~ San Francisco
Learn animation, acting, directing and illustrating this summer! The Walt Disney Family Museum Discovery Summer Camp offers six hands-on summer sessions sure to fire-up kids’ and teens’ dreams and expand their imaginations. Limited to fewer than 20 participants per session – to ensure plenty of personal instruction – campers work with industry professionals to explore acting onstage as a Jamboree Player, learn the secrets behind Special Effects, create an animated short, unwrap the magic of illusions, explore the outdoors with a video camera, or create a comic book hero.

Urban Adventure Camps ~ Oakland
Urban Adventure Camps is unique week-long day camp for children ages 8-15. Camp begins each morning at Rockridge Bart in Oakland where campers meet their group and begin their day’s adventure. Groups visit museums, parks, galleries, and various other urban attractions and citycenters. Public transportation is used to travel between locations, thereby developing the campers’ knowledge and confidence when travelling within a city. Each session focuses on one of the following subject areas: physical science, natural science, history and art.

San Francisco Children's Art Center ~ San Francisco
Paint, draw, build, explore! Join us for Big Kid Weekly Workshops, our summer series created especially for children ages 5 to 10. With topics like Clay Time, Photography Mixed Media, Bookmaking, and Gallery Adventures, each week brings a new set of skills and ideas. Our Fort Mason Center location will provide ample inspiration, as we take advantage of the scenic Bay, public art exhibits, and our neighboring SFMOMA Artists' Gallery.

Digital Media Academy Summer Computer Camp ~ Stanford
DMA is "The Summer Digital Art and Technology Camp for Kids and Teens!" DMA is ideal for students of all ages wanting exposure to the most relevant software used in Hollywood and the entertainment industry, video game design, and web design while gaining hands-on experience under the eye of accomplished professionals.

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