The DAC School offers FIVE camp programs between June 10 and August 23, 2024! Choose from Mini Camp, Cultural Camp, Cirque de Danse Intensive, Teen Intensives, and our Summer Arts Teen Volunteer Program. Learn more about the 5 Reasons Your Kid Will Shine at DAC Summer Arts Camps
Use the buttons below to navigate to the camps you’re most interested in, or scroll down to learn about them all!
Summer Cultural Camps
(Ages 5-12) – Your camper will take a journey across the globe during Cultural Camp. Each one or two-week session is a fun and in-depth exploration of the arts and culture of a country. Each session culminates in a camp exhibition and performance on the last Friday.
Choose from 3 tracks:
Age 5 & 6: Creative Kids – For Rising K and 6-year-olds, this camp offers storytelling, dance, music and fun age-appropriate art activities for our youngest campers.
Ages 7-12 – Visual Track (Classes include: 2D and 3D art)
Ages 7-12 – Performing Arts Track (Classes include: Dance, Theater, Music)
9:00am-3:00pm (Drop off starting at 8:00am)
One-week camps: $200 ($190 per additional sibling of same household)
Two-week camps: $400 ($380 per additional sibling of same household)
*You must register for both weeks of a two-week Cultural Camp.
June 17 – 28 (2 weeks, No Camp June 19, prorated $360): Jammin’ Jamaica
July 8 – 19 (2 weeks): Fabulous Finland
July 29 – August 2 (1 week): Festive Philippines
August 5 – 16 (2 weeks): Magnificent Mexico
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Afternoon Adventures (Ages 5-12): Need full day care? Add the Afternoon Adventures program to your camper’s registration! Afternoon Adventures includes even MORE artistic fun, including visits by professional artists and the occasional field trip. Campers enrolled in Afternoon Adventures will receive a pre-packaged afternoon snack. Campers with food allergies or sensitivities should bring extra snacks.
3:00pm – 5:30pm
Weekly: $80 ($75 per additional sibling of same household).
Summer Mini Camps
The 1980s: (Ages 5-12) – Totally tubular! The 1980s was a time of extremes. From the Fall of the Berlin Wall to IBM’s release of the first personal computer, the decade ushered in a new phase of globalism that brought each of us closer to goings on all over the world. From punk to hair bands to the New Wave and everything in between, the 1980s brought us some of the most iconic music many of us still know and love today, as well as big hair and neon workout wear. Street photography and graffiti/public murals brought the lives of ordinary people into the world of art and vice versa. Let’s step back in time to the world of the 1980s!
Campers will participate in both visual and performing arts activities. Each week of camp will have different activities so campers can participate in one or more weeks.
9:00am-3:00pm (Drop off starting at 8:00am)
Weekly: $200 ($190 per additional sibling of same household)
June 10 – 14
July 1 – 3 (3 days, No Camp July 4 + 5, prorated $120)
July 22 – 26
August 19 – 23
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Afternoon Adventures (Ages 5-12): Need full day care? Add the Afternoon Adventures program to your camper’s registration! Afternoon Adventures includes even MORE artistic fun, including visits by professional artists and the occasional field trip. Campers enrolled in Afternoon Adventures will receive a pre-packaged afternoon snack. Campers with food allergies or sensitivities should bring extra snacks.
3:00pm – 5:30pm
Weekly: $80 ($75 per additional sibling of same household).
Cirque de Danse
Cirque de Danse: (Ages 7-12) In partnership with Triangle Youth Ballet, this summer dance intensive is for beginner and intermediate level dancers that will include creative movement, improvisational exercises, intro to ballet, jazz and contemporary in addition to dance history and choreography. At the end of each week, there will be a fully costumed performance that brings the circus to life through dance! The camp is designed so campers have the option of attending for one or more weeks.
9:00am-3:00pm (Drop off starting at 8:00am)
Weekly: $200 ($190 per additional sibling of same household)
June 10 – 14
July 22 – 26
August 19 – 23
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Afternoon Adventures (Ages 5-12): Need full day care? Add the Afternoon Adventures program to your camper’s registration! Afternoon Adventures includes even MORE artistic fun, including visits by professional artists and the occasional field trip. Campers enrolled in Afternoon Adventures will receive a pre-packaged afternoon snack. Campers with food allergies or sensitivities should bring extra snacks.
3:00pm – 5:30pm
Weekly: $80 ($75 per additional sibling of same household)
School Break Camps
(Ages 5-12)
Accommodating year-round and traditional school breaks and teacher workdays on Durham Public Schools calendars, campers participate in both visual and performing arts inspired by an awesome camp theme. Each week has different activities so campers can participate in multiple weeks!
9:00am-3:00pm (Drop off starting at 8:00am)
Weekly: $225 ($210 per additional sibling of same household)
Daily: $60 (Only Available for Single Day Option)
2024-25 Camp Dates:
Appalachian Arts | Registration Opens July 26, 2024
September 18 – 20
September 23 (single day option) | September 23 – 27
September 30 – October 4
October 25
Food Fodder! | Registration Opens July 26, 2024
November 5
November 11
November 27
December 16 – 20
Afro-Futurism | Registration Opens October 4, 2024
December 30 – January 3 (No Camp January 1)
January 21
February 17
March 10
Experimental Arts | Registration Opens December 6, 2024
March 17 – 21
March 24 – 28
March 31 – April 4
April 18
April 21
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Afternoon Adventures (Ages 5-12): Need full day care? Add the Afternoon Adventures program to your camper’s registration! Afternoon Adventures includes even MORE artistic fun, including visits by professional artists and the occasional field trip. Campers enrolled in Afternoon Adventures will receive a pre-packaged afternoon snack. Campers with food allergies or sensitivities should bring extra snacks.
3:00pm – 5:30pm
Weekly: $80 ($75 per additional sibling of same household)
Teen Intensives (Ages 13-18): Teen intensives are designed for middle/high school students that have experience with the arts and want to learn more about a specific media in depth. Each intensive is one week and runs for 3.5 hours each day. Bundle a morning and afternoon intensive for a full day (teens in a full day program will stay for lunch). Teens should pack at least one snack per intensive each day and if staying for the full day, a packed lunch that does not need to be refrigerated or microwaved.
Morning Sessions: 9:00am – 12:30pm | Afternoon Sessions: 1:30pm – 5:00pm
Per Intensive: $140
June 10 – 14: Songwriting | Mixed Media Sculpture
June 17 – 21 (no camp June 19): Colored Pencil Magic | Fiber Arts
June 24 – 28: Creative Writing | Origami Sculpture
July 8 – 12: Anime-Manga Sketching | Clay Hand-Building
July 15 – 19: Mixed Media Collage | Wearable Art
July 22 – 26: Printmaking | Art from Nature
July 29 – August 2: Bookbinding | Sustainable Creations & Reuse
Volunteer
Applications ARE LIVE for 2024!
Summer Arts Camp provide teen volunteers the opportunity to assist camp instructors, work with DAC admin staff, and get creative with kids while painting, sculpting, crafting, performing and more!
This opportunity also provides teens with valuable resume-building experience and can count towards volunteer requirements that schools or membership organizations may have.
If you are interested in volunteering with us, please complete an application and submit a letter of recommendation as soon as possible. Volunteers must be at least 14 years old by August 31, 2024.
When your application materials are all received, you may be emailed to set up a virtual interview time.
If you have any questions, please contact Wendy Leigh, Arts Education Assistant Manager, at wleigh@durhamarts.org.
Application Deadline: May 6, 2024. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis do not guarantee that every applicant will receive a volunteer position.
Scholarships
Partial scholarships are awarded on the basis of financial need for adult and youth students interested in classes and camps, as funds are available. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. To request a scholarship application, please email Arts Education Assistant Manager, Wendy Leigh, at wleigh@durhamarts.org. Please allow 2-3 weeks for application processing.
Scholarships for youth camps are generously provided by support from the Fox Family Foundation, the Durham Merchants Association Charitable Foundation, Sheetz, and individual donors.
Scholarships for visual arts classes for adults and youth are generously provided by the Arlene Hyman Visual Arts Scholarship Fund, established in 2014 following her passing. The fund is intended to help others — whether children or adults — discover or advance their love of the visual arts. Arlene Hyman, always a lover of the arts, was a member of the Pastel Societies of New Jersey and North Carolina and her work had been juried into numerous exhibitions. After relocating to Chapel Hill in 2011, Arlene continued her studies at the Durham Arts Council and elsewhere in the region. Additional support provided by individual donors.
Scholarships for other activities are generously provided by individual donors.
Donate to our scholarship fund here and designate your gift ‘In Honor of DAC Scholarship Fund’.
