ArtStart
ArtStart is the MAC's summer art program for children ages 4 1/2 to 9 years, offered in June and July each year.
ArtStart teachers are specialists in music, dance, theater, and art, most of whom teach throughout the year and are professionals in their fields. Activities include arts and crafts, theater, music, games, and storytelling. The ArtStart program runs weekly, from 9:00am‒12:30pm daily, except for July 4 (if it falls on a weekday). Children must bring a bag lunch and water every day. MAC members have access to early registration and receive a significant discount on ArtStart tuition.*
Early registration for ArtStart 2023 opens for MAC Members on Friday, January 27. Registration for nonmembers will begin on Friday, February 17. Not yet a member? Get a jump on early registration by joining the MAC family today!
*Current MAC membership at the Family level ($75) or above is required for discounted ArtStart tuition and early registration. Visit our membership page here to join the MAC. If you are uncertain if your membership is current, please call the MAC at (508) 748-1266. Any nonmember who registers during early registration period will be placed on hold until registration opens to nonmembers.
Due to very limited capacity, ArtStart fees are nonrefundable unless ArtStart is cancelled.
All MAC/ArtStart employees and program volunteers must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Registration for ArtStart 2023 opens to MAC members on Friday, January 27.
Registration opens to nonmembers on Friday, February 17.
Want to get a jump on early registration? Click the button (right) to become a MAC member!
Membership at Family level or above is required for discounted MAC tuition.
ArtStart 2023 Schedule
ArtStart runs 9:00am‒12:30pm daily.
Cost per 5 day session: MAC Members: $240 | Nonmembers: $275
Cost per 4 day session: MAC Members: $195 | Nonmembers: $220
Four day session occurs week of July 4 only - no camp on Tuesday
- Session 1: Monday, June 26 - Friday, June 30
- Session 2: Monday, July 3 - Friday, July 7 (4 days, no camp July 4)
- Session 3: Monday, July 10 - Friday, July 14 - SOLD OUT*
- Session 4: Monday, July 17 - Friday, July 21 - SOLD OUT*
- Session 5: Monday, July 24 - Friday, July 28 - SOLD OUT*
* Sold out sessions: email info@marionartcenter.org to be added to waitlist.

Meet the MAC's ArtStart Program Director, Benares Angeley
The Marion Art Center is pleased to welcome back Benares Angeley as our 2023 ArtStart Director. Angeley has been working with children in creative art endeavors for more than twenty years. She is the founder and director of Children’s Art Lab, a creative, process-based mobile art studio that brings art to children and families through the SouthCoast region. While operating Art Lab through several venues, Angeley ran Art Lab programs at the Marion Art Center and contributed to the MAC’s virtual programming, as well as other community partnerships such as the grassroots organization Tri-Town Against Racism. She received her Masters of Fine Arts in Fibers from the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth in 2005 and her Masters in Elementary Education through Merrimack College in North Andover, MA in 2022. Angeley is currently a second grade teacher at Hayden-McFadden Elementary School in New Bedford.
Job Openings for ArtStart
There are currently no open positions for ArtStart 2023.