SUMMER ART LABS
Summer Art Labs at Lunisa is a small, creative summer camp in Minneapolis designed to give children something increasingly rare: time to explore, create, and simply be kids.
Our program blends hands-on making, outdoor experiences, and social-emotional learning in a screen-free environment, allowing children to slow down, follow their curiosity, and engage more deeply. Each week invites students into a meaningful theme, helping them build confidence, creativity, and self-awareness through guided experiences.
Summer Art Labs is a small, screen-free summer camp in Minneapolis blending creativity, outdoor exploration, and social-emotional learning.
Art Lab Philosophy
The summer art labs blends fine art education, emotional intelligence, and creative exploration.
Each week, students explore a meaningful life theme through the lens of influential artists, while working with a wide range of media including painting, drawing, collage, mixed media and sculpture. This is pared with time exploring nature, yoga/meditation and unstructured time for children to integrate their experience.
Our goal is not only to build technical art skills, but to help children: develop self-awareness and emotional literacy, practice reflection and communication, experience art as a tool for healing, identity, and connection to their communities.
Every week stands alone, allowing students to join for one or multiple sessions while still experiencing a complete creative journey.
Whether your child is a budding artist or exploring creativity for the first time, this camp offers a supportive and enriching environment to grow and thrive.
So whether a kid comes for:
1 week → they get a powerful experience
3 weeks → they start building an inner toolkit
12 weeks → they leave transformed
Unlike traditional camps, Lunisa focuses on depth over volume. Our small group setting allows children to engage more fully, move at their own pace, and develop confidence through the creative process.
We aim to create a welcoming, inclusive environment for all children, including those who benefit from a smaller group setting or additional emotional support.
Weekly Curriculum
9am-4pm Monday-Friday
Week 1: June 15-19
Peace + Patience
Artist: Picasso
Discussion Questions:
When do you feel peace?
What does peace look like?
What is patience? Why is it an important skill?
Why is being patient sometimes hard to do?
What are some strategies we can use to show peace and patience?
Art Experiences:
Emotional abstract faces (Picasso-inspired)
“Before & After” peace paintings
Group peace mural
Week 2: June 22-26
Identity + Intersectionality
Artists: Frida Kahlo
Big Questions:
Who am I beyond what people see?
What makes me unique?
How can I support others in being who they are?
Art Experiences:
Symbolic self-portraits
Identity shields (mixed media)
Beaded
Week 3: June 29-July 3
Curiosity + Confidence
Artists: Matisse, Calder
Big Questions:
Is play important for grown-ups too?
What colors feel like happiness?
How does movement change mood?
Art Experiences:
Large-scale cut-outs/Sculpture
Bilateral Drawings
Joy color studies
Week 4: July 6-10
Community + Connection
Artist: Cannupa Hanska Lugar
Big Questions:
Where do you feel the most connected to others?
What communities do I belong to? How do I show up in them?
How can art tell our story?
Art Experiences:
Collaborative wood mural
Story quilt (paper or fabric)
Nature art for all to see.
Week 5: July 13-17
Emotions + Expression
Artists: Kandinsky, Basquiat
Big Questions:
Can you see feelings?
Is it okay to feel more than one thing at once?
How can art say what words can’t?
Art Experiences:
Emotion abstraction paintings
Layered glass landscapes
Sound-to-color painting
Week 6: July 20-24
Ability & Strength
Artists: Van Gogh, Alma Thomas
Big Questions:
What helps you on hard days?
Can mistakes become beautiful?
How do we grow from challenges?
How can we support others?
Art Experiences:
Textured emotional landscapes
“Growth spiral” mixed media piece
Visual journals
Week 7: July 27-21
Nature + Mindfulness
Artist: Georgia O’Keeffe
Big Questions:
What do we miss when we rush?
How does nature heal us?
What happens when we really observe?
Art Experiences:
Zoomed-in botanical paintings
Nature Mobiles
Outdoor observational sketching
Week 8: August 3-7
Imagination + Dreams
Artists: Dalí
Big Questions:
Where do ideas come from?
What would a dream world look like?
Can impossible things exist in art?
Art Experiences:
Surreal dreamscapes
Found-object sculptures
Altered reality collages
Week 9: August 10-14
Words + Courage
Artists: Faith Ringgold, Keith Haring
Big Questions:
When have you spoken up?
What do you wish adults understood?
What would you change in the world?
How do I contribute?
Art Experiences:
Words to art
Sculptured mixed media
Lanterns, paint and beading
Week 10: August 17-21
Peace + Conflict
Artists: Yayoi Kusama
Big Questions:
What helps your body feel safe?
Can color heal?
What is calm, really?
What are tangible things we can do to find healing and calm?
Art Experiences:
Color field paintings
Meditation art
Repetitive pattern work
Week 11: August 24-28
Compassion + Connection
Artists: Norman Rockwell, JR (street portraits)
Big Questions:
How do we understand others?
What does it mean to listen?
How do faces tell stories?
Art Experiences:
Partner portraits
Emotion in media photo form
“Walk in their shoes” team collage
Week 12: Aug 31 - Sep 4
Culture + Communication
Artists: Romero Britto, Afrofuturism artists
Big Questions:
What kind of world do you want?
What role does art play in your culture?
What does good communication look like?
How do we show up for others?
Art Experiences:
Future city paintings
Vision boards
Boxed treasures building