Hearts to Art is an annual fine arts summer camp designed for young people 7-14 years old who have experienced the death of one or more parents. It combines creativity and clinical care to focus on the healing power of creative play!

Using several different areas of the performing and visual arts, Hearts to Art encourages communication, fosters emotional growth, and provides friendship, compassion, and community. Camp activities encourage team building, self-esteem, consciousness, and problem-solving. Through interaction with other children who have experienced a similar loss, campers understand that they are not alone.

This program started in 2005! We just celebrated our 20th anniversary and can't wait to continue to provide this invaluable experience to even more campers in the future!

Hearts to Art holds two sessions over the summer, the first for ages 7-10 and the second for ages 11-14. Each Session runs for two weeks. Dates for 2025 are coming soon!

Hearts to Art 2024 will be held at…
St. Andrew’s Greek Orthodox Church in Edgewater
5649 N. Sheridan Road
Chicago, IL 60660

Hearts to Art is offered at no cost to families!

Two buses will be offered, one from the South Side of Chicago and one from the West Side. Buses pick-up and drop-off locations are still to be determined.

We accept a maximum of 35 campers per session with priority given to returning families. Campers are enrolled on a first come first serve basis, and we will open a waitlist once we hit capacity for our program. We do encourage you to apply early to claim your spot!

To ensure a fun, safe, and supportive camp, we keep a high ratio of caring adults to campers at Hearts to Art.

Once you apply to Hearts to Art, you will receive a confirmation of your acceptance within a few days. Next steps will be mentioned in that follow-up email if applicable. If you apply but do NOT receive confirmation, please contact HTA@auditoriumtheatre.org as soon as possible.

Hearts to Art specializes in working with children who have experienced the loss of a parent. Please explore our additional resources for other programs and camps that may be better suited to your child’s needs.

Hearts to Arts is a fine arts camp, meaning that each day campers work on developing skills in acting, movement, visual arts, music and more through fun and exciting classes. Additionally, small group healing sessions and our junior counselor panels provide campers with the opportunity to share about their loss if they choose. Campers also rehearse and stage a final showcase performance.

Small group healing sessions are facilitated by professional counselors. This provides campers a safe time and place to express and share their feelings with peers.

While we are not specifically a special needs camp, our staff is trained to handle special circumstances to a limited extent. Please contact us with specific questions or needs, and we’d be happy to discuss possibilities!

Our staff is a wide variety of people with a passion for, and experience in, the arts and working with children. Previous staff members hold degrees in education, music, dance and theatre performance, social work, and counseling. Our healing counselors are therapists and/or social workers with experience in grief counseling. All staff have prior experience working with young people, have cleared background checks, and are trained as mandated reporters through The Auditorium.

Our Junior Counselor program listed in the next FAQ is designed for previous campers ages 15-18 who want to remain connected and give back to camp.

The Junior Counselor program seeks to strengthen the impact of Hearts to Art through the peer mentorship offered by past camp participants aged 15-18 years old.  Junior Counselors are former campers selected through an application and interview process to become peer leaders.

The Junior Counselor Program strives to provide a safe and supportive opportunity for participants to develop into effective peer leaders and creative citizens. Junior Counselors draw on their own experience to cultivate confidence, interpersonal skills, and empathy in their work with younger campers. Junior Counselors also gain tools to better understand how their experiences may allow them to be unique role models, empathic individuals, and positive leaders beyond their time in Hearts to Art.

Junior Counselors are paid $12.50. We are thrilled to be able to offer this to our JC’s but expect them to take the responsibility seriously. We ask all potential JC’s not to apply if they can not commit to a FULL two weeks of Hearts to Art. Keep an eye out for applications!

OBJECTIVES

• Explore and implement strengths as a mentor and role model while working with younger peers.
• Learn and develop leadership values through group discussion, daily tasks, and assignments.
• Gain a better understanding of how to be a productive employee and successful representative of a larger organization through work with various staff members.
• Build and maintain a sense of community among peer counselors to illustrate the importance of support networks and positive peer influence.
• Thoughtfully consider future goals and gain various resources for further exploration of career possibilities.

For general questions or early notice if a camper is going to be out/late, please email: HTA@auditoriumtheatre.org 

To reach us by phone, please contact HTA Admin at 312-341-2331