CREATE Arts Center

CREATE provides onsite and online classes for children and teens. Classes include Drawing & Painting, Comics & Cartooning, Family Pottery, Kids Pottery, Mixed Media, Portfolio Prep, and more. Learn more at https://createartscenter.org/programs/art-for-kids-teens/.

CREATE is excited to offer a variety of onsite and online art classes and workshops for adults. Designed for adults of varying experience levels, our short workshops and longer classes provide an artistic experience for everyone. From Beginner Drawing to Mixed Media Expressions to Glass Fusing, our programs allow adults to explore their artistic side.

When school is out, art is in at CREATE!

Summer @ CREATE: Each week of summer camp brings new art adventures. Our experienced teaching artists inspire creativity by teaching a variety of art-making techniques, and by exploring the styles of artists to help our campers draw inspiration for their own artwork. The week-long sessions allow for both multi-day and single-day projects, giving our campers the opportunity to work with a variety of materials, including watercolor and tempera paints, clay, plaster, oil pastels, and more. At the end of the week, each child will go home with a portfolio filled with original artwork! Project types include pottery, sculpture, drawing, painting, cartooning, collage, mixed media and more! Ages 6-12 (teens ages 13 and 14 are eligible to enroll as counselors-in-training.

Break Camps: When school is out for winter or spring break, holidays, and teacher workdays, CREATE provides a fun and safe way to spend to the day. Campers spend the day working on a variety of art projects, including painting, drawing, sculpture, collage, and more! Break camp schedules align with MCPS, DCPS, and a variety of charter and private schools.

CREATE Arts Center’s Art Therapy programs provide individuals the opportunities to work with licensed, professional art therapists to address a variety of cognitive, behavioral, or emotional needs through structured art projects in a supportive, non-institutional environment. Programs are available for children and adults, individually and in groups. CREATE’s art therapists are experienced in supporting both children and adults, and in addressing mental health challenges ranging from autism, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, traumatic brain injury, or loss or trauma as well as personal challenges such as stress, depression, trauma, anxiety, grief, and family relationships. Learn more at https://createartscenter.org/programs/art-therapy/.

Celebrate birthdays safely and creatively with an art party at CREATE! (Please note that CREATE is currently offering virtual birthday parties only.) Virtual art parties are fun for children of all ages, from toddlers to teens, and adults too! Our projects can be scaled up or down for all levels of experience. Learn more at https://createartscenter.org/birthday-parties/.

CREATE’s smARTkids™ is a free after-school program that helps level the playing field for children from low-income households by eliminating cost as a barrier to participation in quality arts programming. Using visual art techniques and art therapy principles, smARTkids’™ art-based curriculum helps elementary school students to build critical thinking skills, resilience, language and literacy skills, peer-to-peer skills, and confidence.

Begun as a pilot program in 2008, smARTkids™ has benefited over 900 children in seven Montgomery County, MD public elementary schools. Learn more at https://createartscenter.org/smartkids/.