For Kids | PIC

At PIC Kids Vacation and Summer Programs...

young artists gain valuable theatrical skills and make meaningful connections with their peers and counselors. Each one or two-week program follows its own structure and theme, but the foundation of all of the programs is a celebration of the creative process with an emphasis on building ensemble skills and nurturing artistic expression.

Using the beautiful indoor and outdoor spaces at Bombyx Center for Arts and Equity, the participants have lots of opportunities for outdoor free play/time in nature mixed into the day. The number of participants in each program is capped at 14 (16 for the teen programs) with an average 1:4 instructor/counselor to participant ratio.

For 7-12 Year Olds

April 20-24, 9am-3pm

The World of Clown

Instructor: Meem Mattei

Cost: $350

For 13-18 Year Olds

April 20-24, 12pm-3pm

The Writers’ Room

Instructor: Anna Fox

Cost: $180

All sessions will be held at Bombyx Center for Arts and Equity, 130 Pine St, Florence

Bombyx Center for Arts and Equity is a non-profit organization established to steward the property at 130 Pine Street, in Florence, Massachusetts - a historic gathering place founded by abolitionists who championed anti-slavery, gender equity, and religious tolerance. Carrying these values forward, we serve our community as a venue for transformative arts experiences, spiritual growth, and challenging conversations.

We are currently raising money for a scholarship fund for this year to ensure that all young artists who would like to attend PIC Kids Vacation and Summer Programs are indeed able to. If you would like to contribute to this effort, please click the "Give Today!" button below.

If you wish to apply for the scholarship, you can do so here.

Additionally, Scarlet Sock Foundation offers grants for youth arts programs. You can learn more and apply here.

If you would like to make a financial contribution to Scholarship Fund, click the button below.

Give Today!

Meem Mattei Carry is a performance artist and educator based in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Their artistic work specializes in dramatic clown, puppetry, interactive theater, and the animation of public space. Meem performs as a highly expressive, nonverbal character named Moimus who is constantly experiencing conflict, failure and injustice, as a way to generate empathetic dialogue between the performer and audience. Meem collaborates with children to create performances, spectacles and installations featuring original puppets and clown characters. Trained in the Reggio Emilia Approach to education, Meem’s teaching emphasizes children’s right to their own time, and centers each child’s interests, curiosity, and capability as co-researchers of the fundamentals of puppetry and clown. Meem has experience with the Suzuki Method of actor training, as well as the somatic practices of Krsitin Linklater, Trish Arnold, and the theatrical clown frameworks of Merry Conway, Jacques Lecoq and Philippe Gaulier.

Anna Fox (she/her) is a playwright, performer, teacher and astrologer. Her work has been performed at a variety of locations around the country, including her play “The Sarahs” at PIC PIPS, and she has also been a mentor for YPF. She’s worked with kids and teens ages 3-18 the majority of her adult life, nannying, working in preschools, and teaching improv, playwriting, satire + parody writing and screenwriting to teens and adults. She received her MFA in Playwriting from UCLA, where she was invited back to teach undergraduate playwriting courses. She is currently an Assistant Preschool Teacher at The Common School in Amherst, and The Early Childhood Coordinator for their summer farm-themed program. She also enjoys taking improv classes at Happier Valley Comedy in Hadley and working in their box office, so if you’re curious about improv, come see a show. www.annapfox.com.

The World of Clown

For 7-12 Year Olds

9am-3pm

Instructor: Meem Mattei

You are invited to enter the joy-filled, rule-bending world of the clown! In the world of clown, nothing is impossible and everything is very serious; you will build a glorious toolkit of failure, suspense, awkwardness, and surprise. You’ll spend the week playing theater games and exploring movement and costumes with the goal of creating your own unique clown character. All skill levels are welcome, whether or not you’ve done a theatrical clown camp in the past. The skills you develop this week will not only help you become a better performer but will help you celebrate the wonderful uniqueness of your loveable human self.

The Writer's Room

For 13-18 Year Olds

12pm-3pm

Instructor: Anna Fox

Have you ever dreamed of being on SNL? Want to work with a group of your peers to write and perform in a series of original sketches? Then The Writers’ Room is the place for you. We’ll eat lunch together and spend the first half of each workshop session in a mock writer’s room, going over comedy essentials and drafting up sketch ideas as a group. Then, we’ll spend the second half of the afternoon on our feet, playing improv games, and exploring the acting components in the sketches we’ve just imagined. The goal is to leave the week with new connections, and several new comedic ideas, in hopes that you’ll be inspired to continue exploring these ideas beyond the workshop.

Rachel F. Hirsch (she/her) Rachel has found a creative home in the Pioneer Valley where her passion for new play and musical development lead her to co-found Play Incubation Collective. She is also a voice-over artist and musician. In 2016, Rachel started the music and storytelling outfit-Golden Bird- which engages the youngest kiddos in their own creative storytelling through picture books, imaginative adventures, and folk and jazz inspired original tunes. As a performer, Rachel has appeared locally with PIC projects, in commercials, Northampton 24 hr Theater, Double Take Fringe, and Youth Performance Festivals, and virtually with Chester and Silverthorne Theatre Companies. Previously, Rachel worked on new theatrical works in DC, NYC, and around the country and as a teaching artist with Spellbound Theater Company in Brooklyn.

Sarah Marcus (she/her) Sarah is a Northampton-based theater artist and educator who has been creating and teaching drama programs to children of all ages since 2002. She attended Tufts University, where she was a member of the children’s theater troupe Traveling Treasure Trunk, and she received her M.F.A. in Acting from The Theatre School at DePaul University. She is the co-founder of Play Incubation Collective (PIC) and the director of the Youth Performance Festival, at the Northampton Center for the Arts. From 2016-2019, she ran Valley Performance Playground summer camps with Felicia Sloin, and from 2010-15, she ran the 6th–9th grade drama program at The Bement School in Deerfield. She has also run theater programs at the Smith College Campus School, Greenfield Public Schools, Girls Leadership Institute, Enchanted Circle Theater, and at schools throughout the boroughs of New York City.

For Rising 2nd-5th Graders

JUL 27-31 Theatrical Toolkit: a 1 week session

AUG 3-14 Playmaking Journey: a 2 week session

9am-3pm each day

$350/week

For Rising 6th-9th Graders

AUG 3-7 Improvise and Devise

9:00am-3:00 pm each day

$350/week

All sessions will be held at Bombyx Center for Arts and Equity, 130 Pine St, Florence

Registration opens the last week of January

Youth Performance Festival

The Youth Performance Festival is a collaborative program of Play Incubation Collective and the Northampton Center for the Arts at 33 Hawley, in partnership with Holyoke Media. Now in its 7th year, YPF is a FREE opportunity for youth artists ages 8-18 to create original performance pieces with the guidance of mentor artists in the fields of music, dance, theater, poetry/spoken word, video/animation, and more. YPF centers the creative agency of young artists, and is committed to supporting them as they discover their own creative processes. For YPF 2026, we are partnering with Holyoke Media to offer a Holyoke-based youth cohort in addition to the Northampton cohort as part of our ongoing commitment to expanding YPF in Western Mass. YPF is an outstanding festival experience that warms hearts and inspires creativity in audience members of all ages!

Registration for the Northampton cohort is now closed. Registration for the Holyoke cohort is open through December 13th. Please contact sarah@playincubation.org to receive the registration form and answer any questions.

Additional Annual Youth Programs

PIC’s annual All-Ages Salon is a celebration of the artistic process.This sharing of new, original works created and performed by youth and adult artists is always a big hit with the whole family! Past locations have included Park Hill Orchard, The Workroom at 33 Hawley St., and Creation Station.

Youth Performance Festival

Additional Annual Youth Programs

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