Drawing

June 15 – 19, 2026
9am to 3pm

$320.00

Teaching Artist Ty Smith will lead young artists, rising 6th through 12th-grades, in building a foundation for drawing with different media, sharpening their drawing skills, and teach drawing techniques for representing forms and objects from life.

Smith is an adjunct professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and at Samford University. He received an MFA from the School of Art and Art History, University of Tulsa.

Papier-Mâché

June 15 – 19, 2026
9 am to 3pm

$320.00

During this camp, rising 6th through 12th-grade students will be encouraged to explore their creativity through the design and construction of one or more papier-mâché sculptures. Young artists will spend the week developing their creative concepts, building armatures, applying papier-mâché, and finally bringing their creations to life by painting their handmade sculptures. This camp is accessible for a range of skill levels, offering young artists a chance to push their imagination as well as their artistic abilities.  

This camp is taught by Laura Benson. Benson has an MFA in Painting and Drawing from the University of Colorado Boulder and a BFA in Drawing from the University of Alabama in Birmingham.   

Portfolio Development

June 22 – 26, 2026
9 am to 3 pm

$320.00

Are you a serious high school art student who plans to major in art or design in college? Are you a younger student who would like to apply to an art-focused high school such as ASFA? If so, this intensive, one-week course will help you build or enhance your portfolio. Young artists in rising 6th through 12th-grades will strengthen foundation skills by rendering works from life and will have the experience of peer critiques in progress.

This camp is taught by Daisie Hoitsma Young. Young teaches painting and drawing at the University of Alabama. She holds an MFA in painting and drawing from Ohio University and a BFA from the University of Texas at Tyler.

Portfolio reviews will be conducted by Darius Hill, Chair of the Visual Arts Department at the Alabama School of Fine Arts.

Clay

Please note this is a two-week camp:
June 22 – 26 and July 6 – 10, 2026
Young artists are expected to attend both weeks.
9am to 3pm

$545.00

In this two-week camp, young artists in rising 6th through 12th-grades will join us to explore the endless possibilities of clay. They will learn handbuilding and surface decoration techniques to create functional and sculptural works of art. This camp is perfect for young artists of all skill levels, from those curious about clay to those wanting to explore more possibilities with the material. 

This camp will be led by Jesús Guizar, a ceramic artist and art educator. Guizar studied ceramics at the University of Montevallo, where he also received his Master’s in Art Education. Currently, he is an art teacher at Jefferson County Schools. 

Crochet

June 22 – 26, 2026
9am to 3pm

$320.00

This camp will introduce rising 6th through 12th-grade students to crochet as an artistic tool. Young artists will learn foundational techniques such as single crochet, shaping and color changing; With these skills and some creative problem-solving, artists will translate a color drawing into a yarn-based image. 

This camp is taught by Bethany Moody. Moody is an Instructor at the University of Alabama Department of Art & Art History. They earned their MFA in Visual Studies at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York; and their BFA in Printmaking at University at Montevallo. 

Sculptural Basketry with Natural Materials

July 13 – 17, 2026
9am to 3pm

$320.00

In this camp, rising 6th through 12th grades students will explore how to forage, process, and use natural materials to create 3D forms. We will begin by using vines, bark, and split wood to weave functional or sculptural basketry vessels and add interest and detail using material dyed from flowers, leaves, and roots.

This camp is taught by Sarah Bell, an artist, farmer, and educator based in Birmingham. Descended from Chinese and American ancestry, Bell grew up using art and creativity as a way to find a sense of connection to her experiences of grief, familial emigration, and home. She is greatly influenced and inspired by the use of natural and sustainable materials and ancestry of people and land. Bell has presented work throughout Alabama, including Shelby County Arts Council, Kentuck Museum Gallery, Ground Floor Contemporary, and regularly teaches workshops at Alabama Folk School, MAKEbhm, and others.

Sew Cool Fashion

Please note this is a two-week camp:
July 6 – 10 and July 13 – 17, 2026
Young artists are expected to attend both weeks.
9am to 3pm

$545.00

Let’s discover the designer in you! Sew Cool Fashion Camp is the coolest way to spend hot summer days! During this 2-week camp students will learn: intro to sewing, safety practices, sewing machine basics, how to read a basic pattern and construction of a wearable project. Using our new skills, we will transition to fashion design. During fashion week we will learn basic principles of fashion illustration, vocabulary, proportion, clothing, coloring, and more fun stuff that real designers do! The campers will create their own clothing line and create one complete look from their sketches. Project Runway with an SOE twist!

This camp is taught by local designer Kenya Buchanan. Kenya B. is a graduate of the University of Alabama where she received a BS in Apparel Design. She has shown during NY fashion week and has earned several awards for her luxury gowns and ready-to-wear.

Printmaking

July 20 – 24, 2026
9am to 3pm

$320.00

During this drawing-based camp, young artists will learn to use the tools and techniques of various printmaking processes to create multiple images using their own ideas and imagination. The emphasis of this camp will be on relief, monoprinting, and intaglio. Young artists will learn how to operate the studio printing press to print on paper and fabric. 

This camp is taught by John Klosterman. Klosterman is a Drawing, Foundations, and Printmaking instructor at the University of Alabama. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Printmaking from the University of South Alabama, and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Alabama.

Sculpture: Bending Wood

June 15 – 19, 2026
9am to 3pm

$320.00

Tanner Young will lead rising 9th through 12th graders in a woodworking workshop. 

Young artists will explore making bent wood sculpture through the method of hot pipe bending. Different methods of fabrication and construction will be utilized in the production of these sculptures. Young emphasizes process and individual investigation.  Students will learn to trust their own intuition and ingenuity.

Young holds an MFA in Sculpture from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and a BFA from the University of Texas at Tyler.  He is an Associate Professor of Art at the University of Montevallo.  

Artwork created by Johana Lugo Galvan, approx. 30” tall.

Screen Printing

July 6 – 10, 2026
9am to 3pm

$320.00

This camp introduces rising 9^th through 12^th-grade students to the fundamentals of screen printing as a creative and expressive art form during a five-day screen printing intensive class. The course begins with an introduction to the drawing fluid method, where students lightly trace designs onto screens with soft pencils before painting them with blue drawing fluid. Once the fluid dries, a squeegee is used to apply a thin coat of screen filler, and the screens are placed outside to set before the drawing fluid is washed away and creating a stencil.

By the second day, the class moves into a “Multi-Layer Challenge” designed to increase image complexity through multiple colors, requiring learners to apply critical thinking and problem-solving skills to resolve technical issues. Mid-week, the focus shifts to digital processes and image development. Students receive a lecture on photo editing software and Photoshop basics to create digital collages and halftone versions of their images. These works are converted into transparencies and exposed onto screens using solar power.

The latter half of the week emphasizes student agency and professional development. On Thursday, students lead their own projects by reflecting on their previous strengths and weaknesses to improve their technique in a process of their choosing. The course concludes on Friday with a period of individual reflection and a group critique session involving both students and the instructor. To finish the workshop, students are taught how to edition and sign their work for inclusion in a final portfolio that showcases their technical growth from the week. Throughout the intensive, participants maintain a high production volume, aiming for 10 to 20 prints daily while maintaining a professional studio environment.

This camp is taught by John Klosterman. Klosterman is a Drawing, Foundations, and Printmaking instructor at the University of Alabama. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Printmaking from the University of South Alabama, and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Alabama.

Architecture

July 13 – July 17, 2026
9am to 3pm

$320.00

In this camp, the design challenge for rising 9th through 12th-graders will be to develop several design solutions based on the program generated from the studio, working within or responding to the provided architectural armature. We will get to explore different concepts related to your scheme looking at environmental response, context, scale, proportion, and materiality. Throughout the camp, we will use different physical and digital tools to aid in our exploration including sketches, drawings, physical models, collage, photography, and AI tools. As we progress through camp, we will also get to explore the urban context of our city to see what shapes our built environment and the impact we can have as architects.

This camp will be taught by Birmingham architects Kris Nikolich and Andrew C. Bryant of Design Initiative.

July 24, 2026
5:30-6:30 pm
Free!

Mark your calendars! Join us behind the red door to celebrate our young artists and teaching artists! 

During the exhibition, artwork created by the young artists enrolled in our 2026 summer art camps and the work of their teaching artists will be on display. All artwork created by your child will be available for you to take home as you leave the event. Thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to sharing this memorable experience with you.

There is no registration or RSVP for this event. Families whose children are enrolled in our art camps will receive a reminder in the mail as the event date draws near. We look forward to seeing you there!