The Baltimore region is blessed with abundant summer camp options for children and teens who want to immerse themselves in artistic endeavors like music, theater, painting or cooking.
Many of these camps are taught by professional artists or by local art, music and drama teachers. Many are just a week long, good options for campers interested in trying new activities or deepening an already strong skill set. Others are longer, giving participants additional time to develop their skills and to collaborate on more ambitious projects.
Most of the camps end with a product to show off and share – a play or a song, a sculpture or a cake.
The famed Peabody Institute, part of Johns Hopkins University, offers a variety of camps for musicians and dancers, all guided by world-class artists, and all geared toward improving skills while instilling a love for performance.
The institute’s Innovation and Music Academy, for musicians aged 6 to 17, provides week-long deep dives that focus on both composition and technical mastery of brass, string, guitar, voice and percussion, each with a culminating performance.
For dancers, full-day summer programs, for ages 7 to 18, inspire campers with new styles and techniques.
AileyCamp Baltimore, free for students in public Baltimore middle schools, is a six-week program that’s part of the national Alvin Ailey camp program. The week-long Baltimore Beat Lab taps industry experts and uses Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs) to teach campers how to create and perform contemporary music.
Summer at Garrison Forest, held at the all-girls’ K-12 day and boarding Garrison Forest School in Owings Mills, offers lots of full-day, half-day and residential camps, including ones specifically for aspiring artists, like the All-Stars residential camp. The popular two-week program, for girls 12-17 who already have some stage experience and want to advance their skills, culminates in a final performance that is open to the public.
Younger actors, ages 6-12, can participate in a co-ed day camp version held in June. Garrison Forest also offers camps that teach baking, ceramics, fiber arts, animation and more, usually taught by its own art teachers.
The Jewish Community Center (JCC) of Greater Baltimore also offers creative and art-forward camps as part of its summer programming. Its Children’s Theatre Production Camp (CTPC), led by Adrienne Bergeron, has two four-week sessions: CTPC Kids, for grades 1 and 2, which puts on a smaller show and includes introductions to skills like lighting, blocking and basic choreography; and CTPC Jr. for grades 3 to 8, supported by teaching artists in the Baltimore region, as well as professional set and costume designers, which culminates in a full-length musical in the campus’s Gordon Center.
“We really set them up for success,” says Bergeron. “They fall in love with theater.”
The JCC also has two-week Habimah arts camps for grades 1 through 6, guided by professional artists and culminating in a showcase and Gallery at the Gordon Center.
Roland Park Country School’s summer programs “really focus on visual and performing arts, especially performing arts,” says Melissa Tully, senior communications associate for the k-12 independent school for girls. Two-week musical theater camps, led by Charm City Players, take campers from audition to performance, teaching them how to work together so that everybody’s talents shine.
Dance and music camps held in partnership with the Charm City Music School include a popular Taylor Swift-themed dance camp, for ages 5-11, that introduces campers to ballet, jazz and modern dance as they dance to Swift’s music and play Swift-themed games; and a similar camp for musicians that uses Swift songs to inspire song-writing and singing, and teaches campers to play the ukulele.
Roland Park’s dozens of Red Hot Summer Camp offerings include ones focused on comic book design, fiber arts, baking, scrapbooking and sewing.
St. Paul’s Schools also have robust summer offerings, including a week-long musical theater intensive for ages 9 to 17 that teaches singing, dancing, acting, and performance skills.
Camp Jam, for grades 5 through 8, encourages beginner and more advanced musicians to learn, create and perform together while learning stage etiquette and collaboration techniques.
A new offering, Rock and Roll Club, invites kindergarteners through second graders to learn songs and perform them on homemade instruments.
Also available at St. Paul’s: culinary camps, a camp that teaches magic, and even a camp for grades 4-8 that dives into the business of entertainment, including marketing, intellectual property and distribution.
“Our camps give students an opportunity to try things and express themselves without having to worry about grades,” says Stacie Gottlieb, who runs Summer at The St. Paul’s Schools. “They can learn different techniques in a fun, supportive environment. Maybe they thought they were interested in something like cooking. They can dip a toe in and try it and maybe spark a new interest.”
This article is part of the Baltimore Fishbowl 2025 Guide to Summer Camps.
