Spend your summer looking, learning, and creating at Cranbrook Art Museum!

• Hands-on, minds-on making in an open-ended, fun environment
  • Our camps introduce a variety of materials and concepts—evoking curiosity and honing critical thinking—while encouraging individual creativity and self-expression. We’re all about process, not product. Learn more about why from US News.

• Look at artwork in the museum
  • Create Campers spend lots of time each week in the museum vaults and galleries; looking and learning about contemporary art. Each project is inspired by artworks they can see and interact within the museum. We use these as a jumping-off point to create and design!

• Learn from Artists
  • Our Teaching Artists are experienced artists, designers, and educators! Teaching Artists connect concepts behind artwork in the museum, with age-appropriate projects and techniques. Create Camps teach kids how to observe, interpret, and tap into their creativity!

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CREATE CAMPS SCHEDULE

Create Camps welcome kids entering grades 1-6 in Fall 2025. Camps are split by grade: 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 are each in their own classroom space.

In-person camps in Cranbrook Art Museum: 9am–3pm daily, Monday-Friday.

LUNCH IS NOT PROVIDED AT THE CRANBROOK ART MUSEUM. Lunch and snacks must be brought from home. All food must be sesame and nut-free!

EXTENDED MORNING CARE AND BUS TRANSPORTATION ARE NOT AVAILABLE.

EXTENDED CARE: Extended afternoon care ONLY is available. Students will walk with staff to the Cranbrook Institute of Science at 3pm and remain there for extended care. Pre-registration is required.

NOTE: Create Camps at Cranbrook Art Museum run separately from Cranbrook Schools camps. Please read the materials carefully.

2025 CAMP OFFERINGS

Brochure with calendar of offerings available here

Color and Light

Experience the magic of summer like never before, where every moment is a celebration of vibrant hues and radiant sunshine! Journey into brightly colored worlds through the eyes and imagination of contemporary artists in Cranbrook’s art collection. Create using colorful mixed media that plays with transparency and opacity, as well as hues, tints, and shades.

1-6 grade: June 16-20

Flora and Fauna

Whether you are drawing the golden glow of a campfire or creating a rainbow of wildflowers, every day is a new chance to discover how nature can inspire your artwork. Learn how artists are inspired by their environment – what they see and find; what they recycle and reuse. Create fantastic botanical and animal-inspired art with everyday materials and items found in nature.

1-6 grade: June 23-27

Drawing and Painting

Explore fun and (not so) messy ways to paint and draw! Study abstract art icons in the museum’s vault and make your own painting masterpieces. Learn how to work with a mix of mediums, traditional and experimental techniques, and develop sketchbooks that reflect your unique artistic style!

1-2 grade: July 7-11 / 3-4 grade: July 14-18 / 5-6 grade: July 21-25

Textures and Patterns

Design unique textures and patterns inspired by local and Cranbrook artists. Explore painting, textiles, and architecture around Cranbrook as inspiration for dynamic new ways of art-making using looms, paint, fabric, and blueprints.

1-2 grade: July 14-18 / 3-4 grade: July 21-25 / 5-6 grade: July 7-11

Design and Sculpture

Great designers play with the balance of functional objects and sculptural art in their work. Explore the design process through a variety of building materials to create art that makes the viewer wonder if they should truly use something that incredible. It is amazing what you can build with just your imagination and your own hands.

1-2 grade: July 21-25 / 3-4 grade: July 7-11 / 5-6 grade: July 14-18

Art Detectives

We need our best art detectives on the case! Solve clues throughout the museum every day to reveal Cranbrook art mysteries. Once the culprit is found, create art inspired by each artist’s practice and materials.

1-4 grade, only: July 28 – August 1

Full Steam Ahead!

We’re combining right- and left-brain thinkers for this camp experience at TWO museums! Encouraging analytical thought and creativity will have your camper discovering new ways to experience the wide world around us.

3-4 grade, only: August 4-8

PRICING

Create Camps: $455 per week – includes all material costs. (We are a material-heavy camp!)

DISCOUNTS

• Become an ArtMember today and save on Create Camps!
  • Save $35 on each week of Create Camps ($420 per week)
  • Not a member? Join today!
  • Discounts available to ArtMembers with a Companion+ membership or higher. 

PAYMENT SCHEDULE

A non-refundable enrollment deposit is required at the time of registration (SSP Camps: $50/session; CIS & CAM Camps: $100/session). The remaining camp fees are due as follows:

•  50% of the total fees due by April 1, 2025
• 100% of the total fees due by June 1, 2025

Late payments may result in registrations being canceled. If you choose a Scheduled Payment option at registration, payments will be scheduled to ensure the required amounts are met by the deadlines.

CANCELLATION & REFUND POLICY

All cancellation requests must be submitted in writing via email to Joanna Anderson, Curator of Education (janderson@cranbrook.edu), and are subject to the cancellation policy below.

• Cancellation should not be assumed until confirmed by Cranbrook Art Museum. 
• The enrollment deposit of $100 is non-refundable.
• Written cancellations received before April 1, 2025, will be eligible for a full refund less the enrollment deposit and any payment processing fees.
• Written cancellations received between April 1 and May 31, 2025, will be eligible for a 50% refund of total tuition less the enrollment deposit and any payment processing fees.
• Cancellations received June 1, 2025, or later are not eligible for a refund.

FINANCIAL AID

CAM is committed to keeping camp accessible and affordable for all families. Need-based aid is offered by the museum for individual camp participants. Please contact Crystal Palmer at cpalmer@cranbrook.edu for more information.

Donate now to help extend our scholarship program.

Register Now!  

Questions? Contact Crystal Palmer, Associate Curator of Education at cpalmer@cranbrook.edu.