Jessica Liss

Usdan Center for the Creative & Performing Arts

Usdan is an award-winning not-for-profit day camp for the arts. Profiled in The New York Times and in Time Magazine, Usdan has been declared a "Best Of" camp by TimeOutNY/Kids, and by NY Metro Parents. Diverse and playfully rigorous from the start, for over fifty years we have brought world-class teachers and visiting artists – actors, directors, playwrights, painters, sculptors, musicians, composers, dancers, poets and novelists – to teach and collaborate with Usdan campers ages 5 to 18. Usdan is set on an idyllic 140-acre woodland campus on Long Island, dotted with open-air studios and performance spaces designed to inspire creativity, collaboration, and experimentation. During our off-season, our beautiful and rustic environment also provides a unique place for team building, family bonding, intellectual retreats, and unforgettable celebrations. Guided by experienced arts educators and professional artists, Usdan campers receive an immersive arts learning experience in our seven Departments of Art, Chess, Creative Writing, Dance, Music, Nature & Sustainability, and Theater. The Usdan experience is unique among arts summer camps around Long Island and NYC, as it brings together the rigor of artistic practice and the playfulness of a classic summer camp, with places to swim, play sports, and practice yoga and archery. Our alumni include Natalie Portman, Jackie Hoffman, Olivia Thirlby, Stacey London, and Lisa Gay Hamilton; singers Jane Monheit, Taylor Dayne, and Mariah Carey; award-winning playwright Michele Lowe, Grammy-Award winning producer Adam Abeshouse, Broadway personality Seth Rudetsky, Juilliard conductor Adam Glaser, and members of major American orchestras, dance and theater companies.