From toddler clay classes to teen portfolio programs and photography, discover the best art studios and classes for kids across DC, Maryland and Virginia.

Whether your child is a tiny finger-painter who still needs help holding a brush or a high-schooler building a serious college portfolio, the DMV is overflowing with incredible art programs that go way beyond what happens in a classroom. Here's our breakdown of the best art classes in the capital region, organized from your littlest creators all the way up to your biggest.

Toddlers & 2s

Abrakadoodle – Twoosy Doodlers

This class is said to be one of the most beloved first art experiences for tiny kids in the DC area, and for good reason. The Twoosy Doodlers parent-and-child class is designed as a recommended first art class experience, helping toddlers develop sensory, fine motor and gross motor skills while learning about color, texture and more through engaging new materials. It's messy, it's joyful and it's a great excuse to spend some one-on-one creative time with your little one.

  • 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 has fostered a safe and nurturing environment for people of all ages and artistic abilities to build community while discovering the arts, and that includes music and movement classes specifically designed for babies and toddlers. The building houses an art gallery, black box theatre, full ceramics studio with wheels and a kiln, open darkroom and digital studio for photography, a large art studio, and a dance studio, so even at the youngest ages, your child is stepping into 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, numerous art studios and galleries, and a restored 1921 Dentzel Carousel, with over 100 instructors teaching hundreds of classes in visual and performing arts, including ceramics, painting, photography, glass, music, dance, theater and more. For kids and teens, Glen Echo offers camps in visual arts, music, theater and nature and aquatic life, presented all summer long as well as during several spring break and winter break sessions. The setting alone, a former amusement park turned national arts hub, makes it feel like a field trip every time you go.

  • 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. Unlike drop-in studios where kids just make whatever they want, YMAS uses a structured curriculum that actually teaches technique, think classical drawing fundamentals, color theory and fine arts principles. The campus includes working professional artists in adjacent studios, which gives kids a real sense of what a creative life actually looks 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-based programs for children, teens and adults, including classes, camps, private lessons and art parties, rooted in the belief that everyone is capable of meaningful artistic expression, with programs that balance classical art training with a modern, exploratory approach. Summer 2026 camp dates are already posted and filling up fast, so if you want in on this one, don't wait.

  • 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

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