Creative Center Chicago, Art Summer Camp

Starland's mission is to expose families to different creative outlets in order to discover where ones creative talents lie. Our professional and nurturing staff will help guide your child through the many artistic outlets in hopes of fitting the child to the appropriate creative medium. At Starland we take great pride in matching students with their passion.

Unlike government institutions and large corporations we take a personal approach to every child in discovering their passion and helping them refine it. What also sets us apart from our competitors are our innovative and high-tech classes. We stay up to date with the latest trends and offer your child the ability to be exposed to new technology they won't normally get until college.

We here at Starland understand that a parent's time is precious, and we save you the hassle of having to drive your children all around to different centers for classes by providing the convenience of having many disciplines under one roof. Once you visit our warm and comfortable center you will be hooked!

Learn more about the services offered by Starland:

Owner Adam More spent the majority of his working life as an options trader on the CBOE. Woke up one morning and had a revelation of creating a center for children of all ages to find and refine their creativity. "Maybe it was the bad burrito, but I decided I wanted to give something back after years of taking from the system". I bring a genuine interest in having people find their creative voice early, and it gives me great joy to hear peoples positive experiences at the center. Once you know me you will begin to sense my enthusiasm in having people have a great experience at Starland.

Jory Mangurten
Some of Jory Mangurten’s fondest memories are of volunteering in her mother’s elementary school classroom. It is there that she discovered her lifelong passion for working with and mentoring children. Jory has a bachelor’s degree in human development and family studies from the University of Illinois and a master of arts in teaching (early childhood education) from National Louis University. Jory has used her skills in curriculum planning and development to educate young people in a variety of settings. She has taught preschool in Skokie and kindergarten through third grade in Evanston. She has co-directed summer day camps. She also has experience working with gifted, at-risk, and special needs children. Jory furthers her love of teaching by tutoring individuals and groups in all subject areas. She has become more and more devoted to Starland as her two children have learned and grown through its programming. They have been inspired and nurtured in its creative setting, and she hopes that other children may share their many positive experiences.

Audrey Pam is a local teacher, art therapist and mom. She completed her undergraduate degree in art from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1985 and her Masters degree in Art Therapy from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1990. She has had the wonderful opportunity to have worked with many children and adults of all abilities. Her past clients have included those from the Christopher House, the Chicago Lighthouse of the Blind, The Center on Deafness and The Illinois Spina Bifida Association. She has also worked with patients on the mental health units of several hospitals. She uses art to help individuals improve their self-esteem, enhance creativity and encourage self-expression. For the last few years, she has loved making art with her own children and teaching clay classes at the Kipling School in Deerfield. She is thrilled to also have the opportunity to teach at Starland.

Ashley Nunan is thrilled to join the Starland family in this program lovingly passed down to her by the great Mary Poole. This is her12th year teaching performing arts on the North Shore where she has been director and music director for New Trier's Performing Arts Summer Workshop, director for Edgewood Middle School's musicals, resident music director at the Wilmette Park District, and director of Northlight Theater's Senior Summer Academy. She is immensely proud of founding a theater workshop and a show choir at the park district, and of developing her early childhood drama and music classes there and at Kenilworth's All Things Bright and Beautiful preschool. Ashley loves all her students; from the two year olds drama queens through her former students in acting programs around the country! She runs a thriving private voice studio specializing in healthy vocal technique for young singers and happily sings herself with the Apollo Chorus of Chicago. Ashley is a proud New Trier theater alumna and holds a BA in music from Drake University. She is so grateful for the love and support of fiancé Erik and cat Zooey.

Mary Poole has been with Starland for 2 years now, teaching pre-K through middle school and writing and directing plays. Mary's last position before coming here was in Kigali, Rwanda, where she spent a year teaching at a school for children orphaned by the genocide. Mary is very happy to be back at home and at Starland, where children have loving families at their beck and call, and food is so plentiful we have to keep the kids from throwing it away! What keeps Mary happy at Starland are the wonderful, devoted staff and the fabulous children and their parents. Nothing is more satisfying than a job in which you can positively impact the lives of so many young stars and watch them grow. And getting to act out princesses and dragons all day doesn't hurt! Mary holds degrees in musical theatre and writing from Illinois State University, and is a member of Opera Illinois, where she recently performed in La Traviata. Mary teaches private voice and acting lessons, and thanks her wonderful husband Phillip for his love and support.

Jordyn Pins Jordyn is a graduate of Illinois Wesleyan University where she received her BFA in Theatre Performance with an emphasis in dance. Jordyn has taught and choreographed for Northbrook Children's Theatre, Summer Theatre Workshop and their professional company, Theatre for Young Audiences. Jordyn also teaches at On Your Toes Dance Studio and choreographs for the award winning dance company. She is excited to return to Niles West High School this fall where she is the choreographer for their musical productions. Professionally Jordyn is currently dancing with Core Project in Chicago. Theatrically Jordyn has been in numerous plays throughout Chicago and Los Angeles.

Marta Cruz has over 25 years of experience working with and teaching children. She started out as a teacher’s aide in a full day parochial school for kindergarteners. She loved working with children to such a great extent that she continued there for 6 years. Marta is bi-lingual in English and Spanish. She taught Spanish and Crafts classes at the Park District of Oak park. After that, Marta used her teaching experience and expertise to run a home-based day care for 7 years. Marta’s greatest teaching experience is through her love to her children and grandchildren! “It is the young child’s excitement for learning and their sense of wonder that keeps me drawn to early education.” ~Marta Cruz

Jesse Keeler started making movies when he was 11 years old after discovering his Father's super-8 camera. His passion for art grew while attending the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he received a BFA. Jesse got caught up in the explosion of digital media technology in the 1990's. During that time he worked as an application engineer doing systems integration and demos of 3D animation software such as, 3D Studio Max, Maya and Softimage, as well as generating 3d renderings and animations for presentations. He continues to work on many independent projects as a videographer and animator. Jesse was part of the team of After Effects animators that prepared the video for the Crown Video Fountain at Chicago's Millennium Park. About 5 years ago he started teaching kids computer skills. He loves passing along to his students a love of learning and pushing the envelope of their creativity.

Lisa Zarov grew up in Providence, R.I. and has a Bachelors Degree from Northwestern University and a Masters in Social Work from University of Illinois @ Chicago. She has been writing music, playing guitar and performing in bands in Chicago for over 20 years. When her kids were toddlers, she discovered that they, and their friends, were a delightfully captive audience whenever she played guitar for them. So she began playing at birthday parties for the toddler set and worked at B’Nai Torah preschool, where she incorporated singing and guitar into the days of her students as often as she could. Lisa brings her experience, as well as her combined love for children and music to Starland, where she will serve as mom-tot music teacher.

Alan Begoun aka 'Mr. B.' has always had a love of working with young children. He's coached little league baseball and basketball, volunteered at the J.C.C. kindergarten program and for the last two summers has been an assistant at the Chicago Botanic Garden day camp. He has honed his skills an entertainer/teacher of young children by being a grandfather of seven. Alan has also done community theater with The Highland Park players. He really enjoys assisting with the various drama and musical theater classes at Starland. He greatly appreciates the opportunity to work with these great kids.