LET’S GET CREATIVE SUMMER CAMP
@Spirit Garage
Monday, 7/20 to Friday, 7/24
9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
At the Meraki Building
100 W. 46th St., Mpls
Open to rising 6th to 8th graders
Registration closes July 13.
Are you a middle schooler who likes to get creative?
Join us for a week of creative mornings — theater and improv games, music, creative writing, and visual arts.
You don’t have to be “good” at any of these things, you just have to want to participate. Small group camp is for anyone going into 6-8th grade.
If you live nearby, you are especially encouraged to participate.
9:00 AM – Gathering Time
9:10-10:00 AM – Creative Writing
10:10-11:00 AM – Theater Improv and Music
11:10 AM-12:00 PM – Visual Arts
12:00 PM – Head for home
❋ Daily Schedule: ❋ Creative WritingEach day one hour will be spent writing, with prompts and ways of writing poems or memories! Here’s a sample: Make a list of what you like best about summer, and put it in order from least important to most important at the end. Consider repeating the beginning or end of each line!
During this hour, we’ll play classic improv games like Mingle, What Are You Doing?, and Three-Headed Genius. These games are great ways to loosen up, find your creativity, and create fun memories with new friends. We’ll also learn some songs and do some basic songwriting together.
❋ Theater Improv AND MUSIC:During our week together, we’ll try a variety of projects like drawing from nature, creating mindful mandalas, painting a collaborative “neighborhood,” and expressive landscapes.
You can expect a relaxed, supportive space where everyone’s ideas matter. We’ll focus on curiosity, creativity, and enjoying the process. Come ready to imagine, experiment, and create.
❋ Visual ArtsMeet the Team
Andy Pokel is the Minister of Music and Community Connections at Spirit Garage. Andy was a classroom music, theater, and special education teacher for 12 years, and toured as an actor/director with Missoula Children’s Theatre for two years before that. He is a fan of improv comedy and took a Level 1 improv course at Station Theater in Houston, TX. In addition to his work at Spirit Garage, Andy is an active songwriter and music producer.
Maris Gilbert is an artist and a retired family and children’s therapist. She has spent over 20 years helping kids and adults explore creativity as a way to express themselves, build confidence, and have fun. Maris believes art should feel welcoming and playful—there’s no “right way” to create here!
Holly Johnson is the pastor of Spirit Garage Church and also a poet and writer. One time, when she was in 6th grade her mom asked her if she wanted to go to a creative writing camp, and she thought it was about calligraphy, so she brought all her calligraphy supplies, and on the first day discovered they were writing poetry! Since then, Holly has been writing poetry and finding poetry in books and has a lot of lines of poetry inside her head. She will be leading creative writing this week, with fun poetry prompts, including collage poetry, erasure poetry, group poetry, list poems and more. Sadly, her dog Caroline, will not be at camp.
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While Spirit Garage is a church, this camp is not religious in nature. It is an offering to the neighborhood, because we care about neighboring.
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Camp is run by the staff and volunteers of Spirit Garage, a ministry (church) of Bethlehem Lutheran Church Twin Cities.
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All staff and volunteers are background-checked. Registration and accounting is handled by Bethlehem Lutheran Church Twin Cities.