Summer Camp
Each summer the CCI holds a six week summer camp centering on themes related to arts, literacy, and design thinking for elementary school students. Past year's themes have included "World Explorers" and "The Amazing Race" which are explored through art, creative writing, design thinking, and literature.
Summer 2023 Camp: Where Will You Go?
June 12th through July 21st 9:00AM-12:00PM M-F
Registration for the Summer 2023 Camp is now FULL
Past Camps
Summer 2022: The Amazing Race!
This past summer was an immersive and exciting race experience across every continent and several countries including Ethiopia, Costa Rica, Fiji, Iran, Germany and Haiti. We created clay pots, coral reefs, musical instruments and parachutes. We also learned about all kinds of different cultural arts and played tons of different games!
Summer 2021: World Explorers
We embarked on a traveling journey through art, design and literature. We made our own boomerangs, nesting pots and tile art. We also wrote poetry and built towers! We finished our summer camp with a legendary World Olympics Games!
Summer 2020: Roaring '20's
We traveled back in time to the 1920s where we learned about Art Deco, Erte, Georgia O'Keeffe and other art. We also created art in those styles, as well as discovered new things 100 years later. We went on field trips, an Art Heist mystery, played games and more!
Summer 2019: ART WORLD TOUR!
We traveled the world, complete with tourist maps and passports! We did self-portraits a la Di Cavalcanti from Brazil, and we made mini-sculptures akin to the Kawaii Culture from Japan. We painted glass, did sculpture, played games and ate food from around the world. We're back now, but ready to hit the road again next summer!
Summer 2018: 1968: A Movement in Time
Our Global Experience theme is 1968: A Movement in Time, given that so many historical and cultural events happened with such major impact on the country and world. But it was also a time of macrame, pop art, op art, tie dye and more! We explored it all!
Summer 2017: It's a Better World with Books, a journey with art and literature
This year's theme, It's a Better World with Books, had students taking a literary journey around the world learning about other cultures through stories and books. We did art from around the world, created community art pieces, explored foods and music from each of our "stops" and much more!
Summer 2016
Our "Perspectives" Middle School summer camps tied into Indiana's Bicentennial! We capped programming off with our All-IN Block Party on Saturday July 16, 2016.
Summer 2015: "South Bend Turns 150 (SB150)"
"Identity Camps" The camps focused on the unifying theme of South Bend's 150th anniversary. Student participants researched and created artwork or projects that focused on the past, present, and future of their community. SB150 focused on the history of South Bend as well as the interactions of the individual students with it through artwork, creative writing, and photojournalism. Pieces that were student-produced were featured in a local newspaper.
Summer 2014
Each camp explored the idea of "Identity" in connection with the exhibit of the mural "Ecuador," by Oswaldo Guayasamin that was displayed at the NDCAC fall 2014. This was the first time that this piece was seen outside of South America, and NDCAC summer camp students got a sneak peek at the five panels summer 2014. Additionally, at the grand opening in September, the work the students created during the camps was on display alongside Guayasamin's. There were four different weeks, each with a different focus: visual arts, cooking, creative writing and photography.
Summer 2013
Students learned about various art concepts while exploring the Civil Rights movement in honor of the 50th Anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr. Students experimented with different art medium and techniques that culminated in an art display at the IUSB Civil Rights Heritage Center.