Opportunity Guide I Summer, Enrichment & Activities Guide

If your child loves singing, dancing, acting, playing an instrument, composing music or painting and designing, she will find a plethora of outstanding fun and instructional programs where she can develop her talents and meet people who love what she does. Check out extracurricular arts activities, including performance opportunities, at your child’s school or at local community centers. Specialized private weekend classes and summer programs for students of all levels are sponsored by various art institutes, music festivals, universities and professional music and dance companies.

To perform at the highest levels, many arts, especially music and dance, require private lessons and enrichment. If your child likes to perform, look for audition opportunities at local fairs, festivals, community orchestras and theaters. Many professional theaters and ballet companies sponsor summer intensive programs from talented youth. A child who enjoys competing may be interested in participating in arts contests where her work can earn recognition and win awards. The best students compete, at national arts contests that offer scholarship prizes.



  1. Continuing Education at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design offers top-notch, relevant, and engaging art and design programming for kids, teens, and adults taught by professional working… Read more
  2. MCAD’s Pre-College Summer Session is an exciting and challenging 2-week, 3-credit residential studio art and design program. It is open to high school students who have completed their sophomore,… Read more
  3. Pre-College Studio Intensives are weeklong classes for teens ages 15–18 on topics including drawing and painting, digital photography and filmmaking, animation and comic art, and graphic design and… Read more
  4. MCAD’s Pre-College Summer Session is an exciting and challenging two-week, residential 3-credit residential studio art and design program. It is open to high school students who have completed their… Read more