DeCordova Sculpture Park
The DeCordova Sculpture Park, encompassing 35 acres of rolling woodlands and lawns, is the largest park of its kind in New England (see Park Map). The Sculpture Park provides a constantly changing exhibition of large-scale, outdoor, contemporary American sculpture for 125,000 visitors each year. The Sculpture Park is open to the public every day of the year from dawn 'til dusk, and contains approximately 75 artworks at any given time (see Park Artists). Admission to the Sculpture Park is charged during Museum Gallery operating hours only (Tuesday through Sunday, 10 am to 5 pm). Outside of these times, access to the Sculpture Park is free. Admission to the DeCordova Campus is $12 for adults, $8 for seniors, students, and children ages 6-12; children 5 and under are admitted free. DeCordova Members, Lincoln residents, and Active Duty Military Personnel and their dependents are admitted free.
The original twenty-two acre Lincoln estate of Julian and Elizabeth Dana de Cordova was heavily wooded. A long, winding drive led from Sandy Pond Road past a large Carriage House and barn to a brick mansion built in the early 1900s on the highest point of the property overlooking Flint's Pond. The DeCordova and Dana Museum and Park was established in 1948 as a result of the bequest of Julian de Cordova (d. 1945), and first opened to the public in 1950.
Today, the Carriage House has become art studios, classrooms, and administrative offices for the DeCordova Museum School, and the "castle" (as the mansion was called) has been transformed into galleries for a museum of modern and contemporary American art. Over the years since the Museum's founding, parts of the property were cleared, additional acreage acquired, and occasional sculptures were placed outdoors—usually to complement exhibitions on view in the galleries. During the 1960s, DeCordova organized several important outdoor sculpture exhibitions that were designed to introduce audiences to the vital new directions in large-scale Modernist sculpture then evolving. A 1966 exhibition, for example, included significant works by Alexander Calder, George Rickey, Max Bill, and Alexander Liberman.
In 1985, a curatorial program was established to provide for the permanent, rotating exhibition of contemporary American outdoor sculpture and site-specific installations. The early success and significance of this ongoing program was formally recognized in 1989 when the Museum's public name was changed to the DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park.
The DeCordova Sculpture Park, now occupying over 35 acres, operates with a three-tier exhibition program:
The first tier consists of outdoor sculpture from the DeCordova permanent collection. These works are few in number, and tend to include 20th century sculpture by historically significant artists such as George Rickey and Alexander Liberman.
- The second tier, which makes up the bulk of work in the Sculpture Park, is comprised of pre-existing large-scale outdoor sculptures borrowed by DeCordova from artists, dealers, and private collectors. These works are selected by DeCordova curators and sited in consultation with the artist whenever possible. Approximately 8–10 sculptures rotate in and out of the Sculpture Park each year.
- The third tier is made up of site-specific, temporary, long-term (approximately 1–5 years) outdoor sculptures and installations designed by artists expressly for specific sites in the Sculpture Park. These works are selected by DeCordova curators, commissioned by the Museum, and funded exclusively through outside grants. (Agencies that have funded site-specific work at DeCordova include the National Endowment for the Arts, the LEF Foundation, and the Massachusetts Council on the Art and Humanities). Artists and curators work together, sometimes over a number of years, to develop, fund, and construct site-specific work for the Sculpture Park. Due to recently constricted funding sources, these installations occur infrequently. Many of these installations are environmentally based, in terms of both materials and content.
All sculptures in the Sculpture Park are documented in the DeCordova Sculpture Park Map and Guide, a regularly updated publication. The Map and Guide, which is available in print on site at DeCordova and virtually on this Web site, contains a map with the location of each work in the Park, a photograph of each sculpture or installation, and brief identification information.
The Sculpture Park is also a major recreational resource for the town of Lincoln and surrounding Boston metropolitan area communities. Along with viewing the sculptures, visitors can enjoy trail hiking, sunbathing, jogging, bicycling, picnics, dog walking, cross-country skiing, birding, and walking among many species of rare and non-native trees exotic to the New England region. Museum guides give regularly scheduled tours for all park visitors, and can provide special tours for organizations, school groups, and the visually impaired upon request. To schedule special tours, call the DeCordova Museum Tour Coordinator at 781/259-3619.
The DeCordova Sculpture Park is a unique cultural resource. It provides the only large ongoing exhibition of contemporary outdoor sculpture in New England, and is one of the few sculpture parks in the world to maintain a constantly rotating program. A trip to the Sculpture Park is exciting to all five senses, but neither touching nor climbing on the artwork is allowed.
These pages of our web site contain a wide range of basic information about the DeCordova Sculpture Park. A map of our Sculpture Park and a listing of all of the artists that have sculptures in our park are only a click away. A page for each artist features an image of each sculpture currently sited at DeCordova, as well as basic information and a short educational essay that provides additional context for the artwork. On our Further Information page, you will find information on submitting artwork. You may also enjoy visiting the International Sculpture Center's comprehensive guide to sculpture parks around the world.
