Whether your child is a young beginner still learning to hold a brush or a high school student building a college portfolio, the DC area offers a wide range of art programs that go beyond the classroom. Here is a look at some of the best art classes in the region, organized by age.
Toddlers & 2s
Abrakadoodle – Twoosy Doodlers
This class is often parent-and-childorite first art experience for young children in the DC area. The Twoosy Doodlers parent and child class introduces toddlers to art while supporting sensory development and fine and gross motor skills. Children explore color, texture, and new materials in a hands-on setting. It is a fun way to spend one-on-one creative time together
- Address: 1831 Varnum St. NE, Washington, DC (classes are taught at schools and community sites throughout the DMV, so locations vary by session)
- Contact: (301) 674-9558
- Hours: Class times vary by location
Capitol Hill Arts Workshop (CHAW)
CHAW provides a safe and welcoming space for people of all ages and artistic abilities to build community while exploring the arts. This includes music and movement classes designed for babies and toddlers.
The building features an art gallery, a black box theater, a full ceramics studio with wheels and a kiln, an open darkroom, a digital photography studio, a large art studio and a dance studio. Even at a young age, children are introduced to a real, working creative community.
- Address: 545 7th St. SE, Washington, DC
- Contact: (202) 547-6839
- Hours: 9:30 a.m.-9 p.m Monday-Thursday, 9:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m-2 p.m. Saturday
Preschool & early elementary
Abrakadoodle – Mini Doodlers
Once your little artist ages out of Twoosy Doodlers, they graduate into the Mini Doodlers program (ages 3-5), where they get to fly solo (no parent required). General art classes explore a variety of mediums and themes, with specialty options focusing on drawing, canvas and art using found and recycled objects. Art camps and holiday break camps round out the calendar perfectly for busy families.
- Address: 1831 Varnum St. NE, Washington, DC (classes are taught at schools and community sites throughout the DMV, so locations vary by session)
- Contact: (301) 674-9558
- Hours: Class times vary by location
Touch Pottery Studio
Never too early to get your hands in some clay! Touch Pottery offers group and individual classes for kids from 3 years old to teenagers and adults every day, and with the help of instructors, young artists design the shape, size and decoration of their pottery themselves. Small sessions accommodate up to eight participants, ensuring personalized attention and a fun experience for everyone. After a two-hour lesson, pieces are fired and ready for pickup in two to three weeks, which is honestly half the magic.
- Address: 5601 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC
- Contact: (202) 643-7494
- Hours: 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Saturday
Elementary school
Glen Echo Park Partnership for Arts and Culture
This historic national park is home to 13 resident groups, a range of art studios and galleries, and a restored 1921 Dentzel Carousel. More than 100 instructors lead hundreds of classes in visual and performing arts, including ceramics, painting, photography, music, dance and theater.
For kids and teens, the offerings also include camps in visual arts, music, theater, as well as nature and aquatic life, held throughout the summer and during select spring and winter breaks. The setting, once an amusement park and now a national arts hub, adds to the experience and makes each visit feel like a field trip.
- Address: 7300 MacArthur Blvd., Glen Echo
- Contact: (301) 634-2226
- Hours: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Saturday
Young Masters Art Studio at Compass Art Center
Young Masters Art Studio offers a skill based, realistic art curriculum for children ages 5 to 13. Instead of a drop in format, the program follows a structured approach that focuses on technique, including classical drawing fundamentals, color theory and fine arts principles.
The campus also includes working professional artists in nearby studios, giving students a clear view of the creative process and what a career in the arts can look like.
- Address: 10335 Kensington Parkway, Kensington
- Contact: (973) 634-0526
- Hours: 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, Noon-6 p.m. Saturday, Noon-3 p.m. Sunday
Amazing Glaze
For a more flexible, drop-in creative experience, Amazing Glaze is one of the DMV’s most popular paint-your-own pottery studios, great for a special afternoon out with your elementary schooler. They offer pottery painting, mosaics, glass fusing and canvas painting for kids and adults, and everything is lead-free and non-toxic. Perfect for a birthday party, a rainy Saturday or just a “let’s make something” kind of day.
- Address: 1340 Smith Ave., Baltimore; 5 Bel Air South Parkway, Suite 107, Bel Air
- Contact: (410) 532-3144; (410) 569-9502
- Hours: Hours vary by location
CHAW After School Youth Arts Program
CHAW’s After School Youth Arts Program for kindergarten through grade five is an opportunity for each child to tap into their inner artist and create community with their peers, with classes in visual arts, ceramics, dance, music, theater and photography. CHAW also houses the only community darkroom in Washington, DC, so if your elementary schooler has a thing for cameras, this is the place.
- Address: 45 7th St. SE, Washington, DC
- Contact: (202) 547-6839
- Hours: 9:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 9:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday
Middle school & high school
Stone Branch Art Program at Compass Art Center
For the serious teen artist, or even one who’s just ready for something more challenging, Stone Branch is one of the most exciting programs in the DMV. Stone Branch is dedicated to expanding the artistic vision and reach of teen and adult students, providing a nurturing, inclusive environment where students build skills and make connections in a real working art studio. It’s an exceptional resource for middle and high school artists ages 12-18 at any skill level, whether your teen is just starting out or building a serious college portfolio. Semester-long courses include portfolio development in observational drawing, figure drawing and concept and composition, all taught by working professional artists.
- Address: 10335 Kensington Parkway, Kensington
- Contact: (973) 634-0526
- Hours: 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, Noon-6 p.m. Saturday, Noon-3 p.m. Sunday
Capitol Hill Arts Workshop – Grades 6-12
CHAW offers visual arts, dance, music, theater, ceramics and photography classes for kids in grades K-12, plus half- and full-day art camps offered in the summer. For middle and high schoolers specifically, the ceramics studio and photography darkroom are standout offerings, and because CHAW draws students from all over the district, it’s a genuinely diverse creative community that older kids tend to love.
- Address: 545 7th St. SE, Washington, DC
- Contact: (202) 547-6839
- Hours: 9:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 9:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday
The Art League School
The Art League School welcomes students of all ages and abilities, with a full selection of day, evening and weekend courses in all fine arts and many skilled crafts. League instructors are professional artists, and the school offers youth classes for ages 5 through teens year-round. For older teens especially, the ability to take classes alongside adult artists in a real fine arts environment is a step up from most school-based programs, and a meaningful one if college art programs are on the horizon.
- Address: 105 N. Union St., Alexandria
- Contact: (703) 683-2323
- Hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday
Emma’s Art Studio
Emma’s Art Studio is a new creative space that opened in downtown Bethesda in January 2026, founded by artist and educator Emma Stevenson Cowan. The studio offers fine arts programs for children, teens and adults, including classes, camps, private lessons and art parties. At its core is the belief that everyone can create meaningful art, with a mix of classical training and a more exploratory, modern approach.
With Summer 2026 camp dates already posted and filling quickly, now is a good time to secure a spot.
- Address: 4931 Cordell Ave., Suite 2A, Bethesda
- Contact: (301) 755-0177
- Hours: 9 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday
