Registration Opens to Trustees Members on Thursday, January 8, 2026

Registration opens to all on Wednesday, January 14, 2026 at noon

deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum in Lincoln is a 30-acre Sculpture Park featuring 60 modern and contemporary sculptures made by a diverse array of artists in a wide variety of materials, content, and scale. deCordova is surrounded by forested conservation lands that partner with the Sculpture Park to inspire the endless creativity and innovation of deCordova’s art and nature camps. In addition, our camps build on The Trustees’ expertise in nature conservation, collections care, and preservation and celebration of cultural heritage.

Camp Details

Every day, campers enjoy activities that align with our educational mission and environmental ethic. Inspired by a teaching philosophy based on inquiry, play, imagination, process over product, and a strong sense of place, camper creations embody creativity, curiosity, and community. Rather than campers sitting individually, mastering techniques in a studio, they can be found experimenting with natural and unconventional materials together on a lawn or in the woods. As they make connections to their own lives, campers see the world in new ways, learn to collaborate and problem solve with others, and emerge transformed by a celebration of diversity.

deCordova Camps are designed for campers who love the outdoors, making things from unexpected art materials, using their imagination, being part of a collaborative community, and creatively expressing themselves. Passionate and experienced artists and art educators support campers and teens in taking on challenges, solving problems, discovering themselves, and delving into visual culture and the natural world.

• If you have any inquiries about whether your camper will thrive at deCordova Camps, please contact the camp office.

The Hive (ages 5–12)
The Hive provides an ideal atmosphere for young explorers to make connections to contemporary art, artists, nature, and ideas, as well as to each other. Using the studios as a home base, campers venture through the Sculpture Park and the natural landscape to discover how artists use artistic, scientific, and social tools to investigate ideas about self, community, and the environment.

A week at The Hive is more than artmaking. It’s about communicating, experimenting, seeing from new perspectives, and coming together as a group to design and construct collaborative sculptures. Each camper’s personal interests and unique abilities are welcomed and complement those of new friends, while everyone learns from each other. The campers’ joyful pride in their collective accomplishments is shared with family and friends during each week’s Friday Celebration in the Sculpture Park.

Summer Studio for Teens (ages 13–16)
Teen Summer Studio offers a vibrant and engaging environment for campers ages 13–16 looking to explore fresh creative mediums. Working directly with emerging contemporary artists, Teen Summer Studio participants are equipped with the tools and inspiration to take their art to the next level.

Guided by experienced artist-educators, Teen Summer Studio participants spend the morning venturing through deCordova’s Sculpture Park and natural landscape to discover how artists use artistic, scientific, and social tools to investigate ideas about self, community, and the environment. In the afternoons, campers engage with visiting artists and enjoy open studio time, learning about and experimenting with a diverse array of mediums. Visiting artists and other guests work with teens to refine their artistic voice and thoughtfully present their work. Teen Summer Studio participants are encouraged to take creative risks, embrace self-expression, and develop confidence and independence.

2026 Camp Schedule

FULL DAY for Ages 5–12
Hive Junior Instructors for Ages 15–18

Week 1: July 6–10
Week 2: July 13–17
Week 3: July 20–24
Week 4: July 27–31
Week 5: August 3–7

Teen Summer Studio for Ages 13–16

Session 1: June 29–July 3
Session 2: August 10–14

2026 Camp Pricing

The Hive for Ages 5–12
9:30AM–3:30PM
Trustees Member Camper: $625/week
Nonmember Camper: $705/week

Teen Summer Studio for Ages 13–16
10AM–4PM
Trustees Member Camper: $625/week
Nonmember Camper: $705/week

The Hive Themes

The Hive Week 1 — Our Shared World: Art in the Animal Realm
Drawing inspiration from Jarret Mellenbruch’s Haven, John Raimondi’s Lupus, Rona Pondick’s Otter, and Kathy Ruttenberg’s A Snail’s Pace, campers will step into the paws, wings, and scales of the creatures that share our world. From local ecosystems to mythical habitats, campers will deeply imagine the animal world and our place within it. Throughout the week, campers will explore how nurturing animal life can guide us toward a more balanced planet.

Project: Through sculpture and storytelling, campers will imagine the world through the eyes of a wolf, the antennas of a bee, or the movement of a river otter. What kind of shelter would a wolf build if it used human tools? How would an insect design a city? After learning about beehives, burrows, nests, dens, and other animal structures, campers will reinterpret them to create their own immersive art environments. These structures might serve as hideouts, observation posts, or peaceful retreats, where human and animal perspectives meet.

This week at the Hive is perfect for young naturalists and artists who are curious about animal ecosystems and how art can help us understand them.

The Hive Week 2 — Nature Builders: Big Ideas, Big Sculptures
Drawing inspiration from Kenneth Snelson’s Wiggins Fork, Alyson Shotz’s Temporal Shift, and Venetia Dale’s Within Time, campers will investigate where art and nature meet engineering. Mechanical components, such as gears, bolts, levers, and pulleys, will be creatively used to build monumental sculptures that represent natural forms, patterns, and forces, from branching trees and spiraling shells to reflective light and flowing water.

Project: After exploring the fine balance and vision of Temporal Shift, tension-dependent works like Wiggins Fork, and the intricate use of material in Within Time, campers’ own innovative construction methods will be used to create their collaborative installation. The parallels between cause and effect in nature and simple machines will be front of mind as campers brainstorm, sketch, design, build, and share their creations.

This week at the Hive is perfect for curious builders who love experimenting with how things work and discovering the engineering hidden within nature.

The Hive Week 3 — Tales from the Tacklebox: Art, Water, and Imagination
Using artist Moko Fukuyama’s hand-carved and brightly painted objects of Menagerie as a launchpad, campers will discover how sculpture can tell stories of people and places. Starting with the anglers who might use Fukuyama’s enormous tackle box, campers will imagine a community of fisherfolk who protect the water sanctuaries throughout the deCordova campus. They will also consider how form, function, environment, and experience come together by examining water flowing through Ron Rudnicki’s Rain Gates and Andy Goldsworthy’s Watershed.

Project: By developing the tools, entertainment, and daily activities of giant water caretakers, campers will explore their own relationship to water, how water molds geography and human life, and the effects of its abundance or scarcity. Campers will work collaboratively to construct a boathouse, a tacklebox, perhaps even a set of giant lures or a school of enormous fish or other water creatures for an imagined water-loving community.

This week at the Hive is perfect for imaginative storytellers who love creating entire worlds (and the people and creatures that inhabit them).

The Hive Week 4 — Portals & Possibilities: Building Worlds Beyond
Where do the curious doors and portals across deCordova’s landscape lead? Drawing inspiration from Saul Melman’s The Best of All Possible Worlds, Hugh Hayden’s Huff and a Puff, Joiri Minaya’s Tropticon II, and deCordova’s hidden animal habitats, campers will embark on a journey that blends imagination with construction, using art to reimagine how we use and move through space. Investigating animal architecture, designing in multiple dimensions, and learning basic building techniques will support new understandings of how architecture shapes human, plant, and animal interactions with their surroundings in various climates and cultures.

Project: Defying the conventional rules of architecture, campers will dream up surreal tunnels and gateways that transform the landscape into a world of mystery and surprise. Inspired by deCordova’s sweeping views, winding hills, and giant glacial rocks, campers will build portals and passageways that blend seamlessly into the landscape. Viewers will be invited to find, step through, around, and into to similarly explore our perceptions and experiences of space.

This week at the Hive is perfect for hands-on makers who love bringing imaginative structures to life.

The Hive Week 5 — Monuments of Me
Campers will explore how artists express presence and inner life through varied manifestations of the human form. Inspired by John Wilson’s Eternal Presence, Zohra Opoku’s Self Portraits Series, Jaume Plensa’s Humming, and Marianna Pineda’s Eve Celebrant, campers will investigate how sculpture can embody not only who someone is, but also how they move through the natural world. Campers will examine the expressive power of the face, posture, voice, and movement to create portraits that go far beyond the surface. Through clay modeling, mixed-media collage, casting, or collaborative sculpture, campers will reflect on how the natural world shapes and complements us.

Project: Using the art and landscape of the Sculpture Park as both mirrors and windows, campers will draw inspiration from natural forms and materials to express emotion and identity. They will ultimately see the human form not only as a representation, but as a celebration of themselves and their place in the natural world.

This week is perfect for campers who enjoy collaborating, reflecting, and creating artworks that connect to the natural world.

Teen Summer Studio Themes

Teen Summer Studio Session 1 — The Visual Diary: Storytelling and Mixed Media Exploration
This week, campers will embrace the art of collage, nature, found objects, and illustration to capture personal stories.

Teen Summer Studio participants will work with visiting artists to explore the use of human- and nature-made imagery, text, pattern, and texture throughout the Sculpture Park. Visiting artists will introduce techniques such as layered collage, intuitive drawing, and zine art, incorporating materials collected from both the studio and the Sculpture Park—blossoms, lichen, photographs, sketches—creating a rich blend of the personal, the cultural, and the environmental.

By the end of the week, each camper will have developed a cohesive body of work that together will become a unique visual diary reflecting their image of self, family, and/or community.

Teen Summer Studio Session 2 — Interrupt / Invent: The Experimental Studio
This week, campers will boldly experiment with mixed media painting and geometric abstraction to discover new ways to make, break, and remake.

Inspired by the art and artists on view in the Sculpture Park, Teen Summer Studio participants will dive into contemporary art practices that blur the line between art and the environment. They will look closely at how artists respond to nature, reinterpret it, and collaborate with it.

Through ambitious exploration of organic materials and improvisational techniques inspired by patterns in nature, campers will discover how creative disruption mirrors the cycles of growth and transformation found outdoors. Projects may include deconstructed botanical drawings, site-based interventions, or found-object installations that celebrate the ever-changing rhythms of the natural world.

Registration Information

Create or access your CampBrain account to register your camper. Here are some CampBrain Tips for navigating common sticking points during the process.

Payment, Payment Plans, & Financial Assistance
Payment is due in full by credit card or eCheck at the time of registration to confirm your session.

Payment plans are available to ease the expense of camp. Please contact the camp office before you register.

The Trustees is committed to providing outdoor camp experiences for everyone. Obtain Financial Assistance information online or contact the camp office. Although spots are held for eligible campers, please apply as early as possible as assistance is awarded on a rolling basis as space and funds allow.

Member Tuition Rate
deCordova is a property of The Trustees, a member-supported, nonprofit organization that protects and cares for 27,000 acres across Massachusetts. Trustees Family Members receive the $80 discounted tuition rate for each camper for each week of camp—plus free or discounted admission at 120+ special places, program discounts, and special event pre-sales all year round.

NEW Membership Procedure!
Membership purchases are no longer available during registration. Before you register, please be sure that you have your Membership number ready and a current Trustees Family Membership (or above) by using the Membership Lookup Tool.

Wait Lists
If any of your desired camp weeks are full, you will have the option to join the wait list as you register. Your credit card will not be charged for waitlisted sessions until you accept a session that becomes available.

What You Need to Register
Please have the following ready to proceed to registration:

• Annual physical and immunization forms
• Emergency and pick up contact info
• Camper insurance policy and doctor contact
• Credit card or eCheck information
• Your Membership number and expiration date (Membership Lookup Tool)

Buddy Requests
We pride ourselves on turning strangers into friends. For campers in the same age cohort, we do our best to honor buddy requests. However, due to licensing requirements and other logistics, requests cannot be guaranteed. All parties must initiate a buddy request when registering.

Refund, Cancellation, and Session Change Policy
Due to the high demand for camp and the complexities of registration administration, please select your camp weeks carefully. Refunds are not given for camper dismissal, failure to attend, absence, or sick days. Pro-rated refunds will be offered if camp is not able to open due to extreme weather.

• Prior to April 1, we are able to refund tuition less $150 per camper per week.
• After April 1, we are not able to issue any tuition refunds for cancelled sessions, even if spots are refilled.
• Session change requests will be fulfilled if space allows. There is a $75 per camper per week session change fee.

Licensure
deCordova Camps comply with all regulations required by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and is licensed by the local Board of Health. Parents have the right to request and review the following policies: background check, health care, discipline policies and grievance procedures.