Youth Art Enrichment Programs
Arts on Main is committed to providing a variety of ways for young artists in Gloucester to create and learn about art. Throughout the year, we offer professional, hands-on arts education through a variety of children’s classes and summer camps. We are grateful for the many donors, sponsors, and grants that support these programs!
Youth Art Classes
Classes for young artists are designed to empower students to express themselves creatively while also developing an appreciation for and understanding of the arts. While some classes are designed to focus on a specific technique or medium, other classes incorporate an art history component. We hope that students have fun in the classes, whether they are learning about how to use tools and materials or how famous artists have influenced the world of art.
Palette Pals
Palette Pals is Arts on Main’s signature educational program and part of our Youth Art Enrichment Programs. Founded in 2011 in one elementary school as the After-School Enrichment Program, it is now in every elementary school in Gloucester County, with over 3000 children participating to date. Palette Pals is currently conducted as an extracurricular, before-school program for students in grades K-5, led by the school’s art teacher. The program’s focus is on teaching STEM-based art lessons that focus on current SOL objectives in math and science. Our goals are to provide hands-on experiential learning through art making and to increase student understanding of concepts related to math and science content. This program is provided at no charge to the children or the schools and relies solely on grants and donations.
Youth Art Camps
Thank you to our sponsors!
We are grateful for Sentara's generous sponsorship of these programs.
In the summer, Arts on Main continues its youth art programming by providing summer camps for young local artists. In the summer of 2023, we hosted six weeks of free camps, with two weeks dedicated to pre-school (ages 3-5), elementary school (ages 6-10), and middle school (ages 11-14). These classes offer professional art instruction to young artists in Gloucester County and build on our school-year program, Palette Pals.
“I’ve been waiting for Arts on Main [camp] for a long time…Arts on Main is my happy place.”
Evie D., Preschool Summer Art Camper
