Merrill Arts Center

Merrill Arts Center (MAC) is a community-focused arts hub in Woodbury with a mission “to champion the arts,” created out of the former Woodbury Arts Council and built to be a regional cornerstone for arts access and education.

MAC’s summer options are heavily theatre-centered and intentionally growth-focused (“the MAC Education Difference”), emphasizing professional teaching artists (not teen-led camps) and no parent volunteer requirement. The lineup includes:

• Mini Camps (ages 5–8): short, 2-hour creative drama camps with themes like Bubble, Sparkle, and Super Hero Training, generally running 9:30–11:30am.
• Theater Workshops (various ages, 4–18): skill-focused workshops like Musical Theatre Dance, Audition Workshop, and Acting A–Z, typically running 10:00am–12:00pm.
• Non-Musical Theater Camps (ages 5–10): “4-mornings” camps (Mon–Thu, 9:00am–12:00pm) where kids memorize and perform a short play for invited family (examples include Toy Store, Make It Mystery, Thirteen Colonies Game Show).
• Musical Theater Camps (ages 9–17): one-week afternoon camps (1:00–4:30pm) that rehearse a few songs with a director/choreographer/vocal coach and culminate in a short workshop-style performance (examples include The Little Mermaid, Moana, High School Musical, Wicked, The Descendants). *These musical camps are hosted at the MAC Black Box at East Ridge High School.

MAC’s Arts After School offerings include weekly clubs such as Chess Club (Wednesdays 3:50–5:00pm) and theatre options like Creative Drama Club: Games (no memorization; imagination/theatre games) plus a Drama Club: Performance track (kids rehearse, memorize lines, and perform a short play for families).

Year-round

‍Summer Camps
June 9 - August 14, 2026

Dorothy K. Merrill Fine Arts Center

380 Rivertown Drive, Suite 200

Woodbury, MN 55125

After School Programs

‍$119 - $129/session (sessions include multiple days throughout the semester)

‍Summer Camps‍

• Musical Theater Camp: $349/week
• Non-musical Theater Camp: $299/4-day week
• Theater Workshop: $39/day (camp is only 1 day)
• Mini Camp: $29/day (camp is only 1 day)

Discounts for multiple children. Financial aid is available, please email barbe@merrillartscenter.org for more info.

After school programs can be registered for online here (registration windows are tight, so be sure to subscribe to their newsletter for alerts).

Summer camps can be registered for online here, by selecting camp choice.

612-201-4000

barbe@merrillartscenter.org

Subscribe to their newsletter here

What Parents Like‍

• Merrill Arts Center’s Facebook presence shows a high recommend rate (96%)—this isn’t camp-specific, but it’s a helpful “families generally like this place” signal. (1)
• Accessible, local “arts hub” feel. Local coverage describes Merrill as a welcoming east-metro arts space with a solid setup (open space + stage), which matches why families choose it for youth programming: it feels like a real creative home base, not a pop-up camp. (2)

‍What Parents Think Could Be Improved‍

• Some feedback online is “program/leadership dependent.” In broader community theatre chatter, you’ll occasionally see comments that imply experiences can vary by production or team. It’s not a consistent camp complaint—but it’s a reason to ask a few “fit check” questions before enrolling. (3)

‍Our Take

‍Merrill Arts Center looks like a high-trust local option for theatre-forward camps and after-school arts programming—especially if your child loves performing, imaginative play, or musical theatre. The clearest public signals are very positive overall sentiment and a strong “community arts hub” reputation. Moving forward, the most MomBrains move is a quick pre-enrollment checklist: How are kids grouped (age/experience)? What does a typical day look like? How much is games/creative play vs rehearsal/performance? What’s the behavior/support approach?