Arts at McMaster launches summer arts camps for kids

Visual and digital arts programming for students in grades 5-12 will run in July and August.

By Sara Laux, Faculty of Humanities April 11, 2025

A child wears visual reality goggles, while an adult woman stands beside them, holding an iPad.
Visual and digital arts programming for students in grades 5-12 will run in July and August.

Kids and teens in and around Hamilton who dig digital art, are passionate about painting, and stoked about sculpture are going to have a fantastic summer this year.

That’s because McMaster will be opening its doors for its first-ever series of arts camps, offering programming in visual and digital arts to kids in grades 5-8 and a series of “arts intensives” to teens in grades 9-12.

The camps take advantage of McMaster’s many arts facilities, including drawing and painting studios, digital media labs, printmaking equipment and gallery spaces – as well as the creativity inspired by the campus’s historic buildings and extensive natural lands.

“We’re looking forward to welcoming young artists to campus, and giving them an opportunity to work with professional-level equipment, software and materials, as well as trained arts educators,” says Cornelia Peckart, the campus and community educator with Arts at McMaster, a unit within the Faculty of Humanities that oversees the camps. “It will be fantastic to offer this kind of arts resource to the community – and give kids and teens a peek at what life on campus is like.”

Kids in grades 5-6 and 7-8 can choose week-long camps in visual or digital arts, while teens can select one- or two-week intensive sessions in animation and motion capture, 3D digital sculpture, printmaking or drawing. Sessions run throughout July and August.

All participants will also visit the McMaster Museum of Art, receive visits from guest artists, and get to know the McMaster campus through sketching activities and mini field-trips.

The summer camps are run by Arts at McMaster, an initiative of McMaster’s Faculty of Humanities designed to offer arts programming to the community beyond the university’s campus.

“We have extensive arts facilities here at McMaster, including cutting-edge technology for digital drawing, painting, sculpture and photography,” says Patrick Brennan, director of arts operation, resources and production within the Faculty of Humanities. “As our community programming grows, we’re looking forward to offering more workshops, camps and classes in the future for both young people and adults.”

Interested in summer arts camps at McMaster? Go to the Arts at McMaster website for more information and for a link to register.

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