SummerArts

SPEND SUMMER WITH US

Artist-led camps that combine
Movement • Visual Art • Music
Storytelling • Theater • and more!

Students in grades 3 through 9

Channel your kids’ energy into the arts this summer! SummerArts offers three weeks of multi–arts workshops for children entering grades 3-9. Each week, students take part in a wide variety of artistic activities with daily sessions in visual arts, music and movement/theater, led by teaching artists who are experts in their field.

In between classes kids can play outside, spend time with friends or work on a project at their own pace. Workshops for older students are more intensive and provide an opportunity for more sophisticated exploration and execution.

The SummerArts program is specially designed to provide kids with a deeply creative, artistic experience.  Themes and activities vary each week, giving students the chance to explore art in many forms and diverse media. Many campers are introduced to new artistic expressions and media that they never knew they loved!  Classes are perfect for beginners as well as more seasoned creators. Please note that the age ranges are adjusted based on the number of kids enrolled but that we take great care to place each child in an age-appropriate group that best fits that child’s needs.

2025 SummerArts Schedule

Week 1: August 11–15

Week 2: August 18–22

Week 3: August 25–29

Each week’s camps take place Mon–Fri, 9am–3pm

Teacher information to come; we promise an exciting roster of multi-disciplinary programs.

EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION IS OPEN!
Enroll by April 18 and receive $50 off tuition. More details in the button below.

Past Summer Offerings:

Enrollment

You can register for SummerArts for 1, 2, or all 3 weeks! Campers will be grouped by age in sections of 12 or less. Please note there are no full refunds. Please see our refund policy below for details.

AGES: Kids entering grades 3-9

2025 DATES: 

Cancellation/Refund Policy

If you need to cancel your child’s enrollment in camp for any reason:
Cancel before May 17, 2025: 75% refund, excluding registration fee.
After May 17, 2025, no refunds.

*Please note: due to the demand on scholarship funds, families who receive scholarship support are not eligible for refunds.

Contact Information

Contact us: summerarts@riverarts.org

This Year’s SummerArts Faculty

Staff

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Emily Gosweiler

SummerArts Director

egosweiler@riverarts.org

Emily Gosweiler is a working artist with a BFA from SUNY Purchase primarily focusing on painting and sculpture. She is the executive director and founder of Creative Hearts art program, located in Dobbs Ferry.  Over the last 15 years, Emily has worked in over a dozen art programs and camps including the Katonah Art Center, Young Artists at Purchase College and Young At Art. She is passionate about the uplifting and transformative power of an arts education.

Amanda Alvarez

SummerArts Assistant Director

aalvarez@riverarts.org

Amanda Alvarez has worked in childcare for the past decade with children ranging in age from infancy to early teens. Her love of art began as a young child and when she got a position running the art room at the after-school program, the Irvington Children’s Center, her passion for art and teaching children came together. There she created and ran multiple art clubs and shows to help cultivate the children’s enthusiasm for art and inspire them to keep expressing their creativity. In her fourth year working at SummerArts, she looks forward to helping provide children with a safe space where their curiosity and artistry can grow. 

Doug Coe

Doug Coe has been a FiberArtist for about 40 years. He has taught knitting, weaving, and crochet to adults and children. As a weaver, he ran Skein of Light and taught for SummerArts 2008-2010, as well as French Woods Festival for the Performing Arts from 2011-2013. Once he became Executive Director of RiverArts his fiber arts activity took a "back seat". Since retiring from that role, he is now a full time weaver. He works from his studio in Montgomery, NY and is delighted to return to SummerArts. This past year his work has been seen in several art shows in the Hudson Valley and can be seen on his website: HudsonValleyHandweaving.com. Visitors are always welcome to his studio. Contact Doug at Doug@hudsonvalleyhandweaving.com. 

Kofi Donkor 

Maxwell Kofi Donkor is a Master drummer and Asante Prince who was born and raised in Ghana. Kofi was chosen to carry on the ancestral drumming tradition, and spent much of his childhood learning drumming from his grandfather. He has honored and pursued this commitment with a passion throughout his life. Kofi now lives and works in New York State where he is the leader of the Sankofa Drum and Dance Ensemble. The group promotes teamwork and community building through their performances and workshops at events, schools and festivals. Kofi has been an active member of Bridges of Peace and Hope for many years and he believes that the arts (visual and performing arts) are a sure way to bringing people of all races, culture, and gender together in peace and love. When Kofi’s not working he often volunteers to help with the soup kitchen, and homeless shelter, and also spends time visiting patients at the hospital. 

Lance Johnson 

Art has the power to change the world. Art helps us express ourselves freely. Allows us to creatively share our perspectives and is instrumental in building bridges culturally, racially and economically. As an artist, I use my work to inspire people from all walks of life. Especially young people who live in urban environments. I want them to appreciate where they come from and to embrace the beauty around them but also aspire to greater things. I use vibrant colors, textures and WORDS to inspire the viewer of my work. I use words like DREAM, INSPIRE, SHINE, LOVE, LIVE, CREATE, BEAUTY, PEACE, WISDOM throughout my work to effect emotions in the viewer. I grew up in the Bronx NY and recently moved to Columbus. I was drawn to Cbus because of the collaborative spirit of the art community here and the way the city embraces the arts. It’s so dope to see artists supporting artists and that's what I’m all about. Collaboration and connections. Artlife. ljartlife.com 

Nicole Lemelin 

Nicole grew up on a horse farm in central Connecticut and began her dance training at Starship Dance Theater. She went on to attend SUNY Purchase College and graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BFA in Dance Performance. While in school she had the opportunity to perform works by Adam Barruch, John Hegginbothum, Doug Varone, Rosalind Newman, Bettijane Sills to name a few. Professionally, Nicole has had the distinct pleasure of dancing with Shawn Bible Dance Co, Kathleen Helm and Dancers, Sea Legs Dance, and Hyperspace Dance. Beyond New York City, she has toured internationally to Sri Lanka and Sao Miguel, Azores. Currently, you can catch her joyfully performing with Time Lapse Dance, The RIDE NYC, and the award winning group “Jenny Rocha and The Painted Ladies.” As a dance maker, Nicole has presented her choreographic work at festivals in New York City, Philadelphia and Chicago. She is very excited to join SummerArts and share her joy of dance with her students! 

Josh Lewis

Josh Lewis is a director, writer, performer, and educator. He has worked with countless New York theater companies such as the Atlantic Theater Company and Manhattan Theater Club, and was an original cast member and co-writer of C-R-E-P-U-S-C-U-L-E, which evolved into the Tony Award winning 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. As a founding member of the comedy group, The Bert Fershners, Josh worked frequently with Comedy Central, creating and performing original content for the channel. Josh’s career as an author includes his own children’s book series, Super Chicken Nugget Boy, published by Disney/Hyperion. As an educator, Josh has taught acting, playwriting, and improvisation for over thirty years, instructing students of all ages and creating curriculums for institutions such as NYU, the Atlantic Acting School, Yale School of Drama, Lee Strasberg Theater Institute, New York Film Academy, and the New York City Public School system. He is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Sleepy Hollow Arts Collective. 

Chelsea Michaelis

Chelsea is an art teacher at the Creative Hearts art program in Dobbs Ferry. She studied Studio Art at Bard College and practiced in all different mediums, with a focus on printmaking, collage, and drawing. Since then, she continued her focus on painting and expanded into sculpture as well. She's shown work at Upstream Gallery in Hastings and has had two shows at The Donald Gallery in Dobbs Ferry. Chelsea loves making art with kids and looks forward to teaching at SummerArts. 

Isabel Oliveras

Isabel is a lover of art. She studied Communications and Art at Pace University, and has experience with sculpture, ceramics, and painting.  She began teaching children how to swim as a lifeguard, and now brings her passion for art and working with children together at Creative Hearts in Dobbs Ferry.  When Isabel isn't teaching, she's designing and tattooing body decor as a hand-poke tattoo artist. Isabel loves connecting with kids and is so happy to be a part of SummerArts.  

Phylisha Villanueva

Phylisha Villanueva is a Belizean-American poet, author, and cultural activist. She is the Westchester County Poet Laureate, a teaching artist for Arts Westchester, a member of the Jazz and Poetry Choir Collective, and Tesoro, an international women's poets' collective. Phylisha is also the co-founder of the Yonkers Writing Group. Phylisha is pursuing her Master of Fine Arts in Poetry at Saint Francis College while serving as a Board advisor and chairperson for the Blue Door Art Center membership committee in Yonkers, NY. 

Fabienne Beard-Wright

Fabienne Beard-Wright is a choreographer and dance instructor specializing in Caribbean soca, Cuban salsa, and West African dance. As a first-generation Caribbean-American, she uses dance to honor her heritage and celebrate the resilience, history, and joy of the African diaspora. Fabienne blends traditional rhythms with contemporary approaches, fostering inclusivity and belonging through classes, performances, and workshops. Her work creates spaces where individuals from all backgrounds feel empowered to move and connect while preserving and evolving cultural traditions for future generations.

Serena Norr

Serena Norr is a writer, director, playwright, and founder of Let’s Make a Play, a playwriting program for kids and adults. Her plays have been performed at the Omaha Fringe Festival, White Plains Performing Arts Center, The Flea, Bethany Arts Center, and many more. She is the director of the short movies “Bland,” “Mar and Debbie’s Very Haunted Situation,” “Agency for the Lost,” and many others. Her plays have been published in the “Bittersweet Monologue Collection” amongst others. She is a member of the Dramatists Guild, Westchester Collaborative Theatre, and The Workshop Theater. For more information, visit serenanorr.com