DeCordova Museum & Sculpture Park - Lincoln, MA - Sculpture Gardens on Waymarking.com

From www.decordova.org/decordova/sculp_park/sculp_park.html

The DeCordova Sculpture Park, encompassing 35 acres of rolling woodlands and lawns, is the largest park of its kind in New England (http://www.decordova.org/decordova/sculp_park/sculptureparkmap.html). 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 (http://www.decordova.org/decordova/sculp_park/artists.html). 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.


From www.decordova.org/decordova/info/about.html:

The DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park is located on the former estate of Julian de Cordova (1851-1945). The self-educated son of a Jamaican merchant, Julian de Cordova became a successful tea broker, wholesale merchant, investor, and president of a glass company in Somerville, Massachusetts. Although he married into the locally prominent Dana family of Boston, de Cordova achieved prosperity without the advantages of inheritance or social position.

Travel and art were his passions, and de Cordova once wrote that he collected "everything that took [his] fancy in every country of the world." In an era before airplanes and automobiles, Julian and his wife Elizabeth were hardy tourists who transversed the globe several times. Inspired by his trips to Spain and his own Spanish heritage, Julian remodeled his summer home in Lincoln, Massachusetts in 1910 to resemble a European castle. His exposure to visual arts abroad also influenced his management of the Union Glass Company, which under his stewardship produced ornamental glass to rival the quality of his European competitors.

For de Cordova, the visual arts served as a medium for self-improvement and enlightenment. In his later years, he opened the doors of his estate to share the wonders he had collected during seven decades of world travel. De Cordova envisioned a place where art would continue to educate and excite beyond his lifetime. To meet that end, he gave his property to the town of Lincoln in 1930 with the stipulation that his estate would become a public museum of art following his death.

De Cordova's will established a committee of incorporation, whose duties included formulating the policy, objectives, and supervision of the new museum with the guidance of professionals in the field, such as the Director of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston (MFA). Independent appraisers determined that de Cordova's collections were not of substantial interest or value, so the original Trustees determined to honor his intent by creating a museum of regional contemporary art.

The Trustees reached this innovative decision after they noticed the near absence of modern art exhibitions in the Boston area and the lack of venues for works by regional contemporary artists. When it officially opened in 1950, the DeCordova Museum became the only museum to focus its exhibitions and collecting activities on living New England artists, while adopting a broad educational program in the visual arts. Architect John Quincy Adams designed the extensive renovations that transformed the de Cordova mansion into a public museum.


DeCordova's Mission Statement

The DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park is a public museum of art established to educate as broad and diverse a public as possible about modern and contemporary American art. The Museum accomplishes this mission by focusing primarily, though not exclusively, on the art of the New England region.

DeCordova educates through exhibitions, collections, classes, outreach programs, and a full schedule of activities designed to enhance our public’s engagement with art and artists.

DeCordova is a member-supported, 501(c)3 tax-exempt non-profit organization incorporated in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts , which receives funding support from federal and state cultural agencies, private and corporate foundations, and individuals.


DeCordova's Early Years

The Trustees picked MFA School of Art graduate Frederick P. Walkey to lead the institution as its founding director, and he aggressively organized an exhibition schedule and arts instruction program with a clear educational mandate. The Museum established a reputation for ground-breaking exhibitions that introduced New England audiences to important trends within contemporary art both regionally and nationally, including Pop Art and Boston's post-war expressionist movement. DeCordova has been accredited by the American Association of Museums since 1974

As visitors roamed the galleries below, the Museum's third floor buzzed with studio art classes. The School attracted hundreds of students, eventually overwhelming the limited space within the Museum. In 1966, DeCordova constructed a complex of four studio buildings to accommodate an expanded educational program and to meet the equipment and instructional needs of a professional studio art curriculum. In the early 1980s, the Museum consolidated and renovated two existing buildings to form administrative offices for the Museum School and its outreach programs.

DeCordova Today
DeCordova's emphasis upon modern and contemporary art fueled its rapid popularity during the 1950s and 1960s, but by the 1980s, the Museum faced competition from a growing number of local museums, universities, and private galleries that shared a similar artistic mission. With the arrival of its former director, Paul Master-Karnik in 1984, DeCordova initiated a series of curatorial programs to further strengthen its commitment to New England contemporary artists. The DeCordova Annual Exhibition (formerly titled Artist/Visions) series features works by up and coming new artists and provides an annual snapshot of regional talent. At the same time, the Media Space @ DeCordova highlights local video artists.

In addition to these activities, DeCordova augmented its position as the region's foremost presenter of modern and contemporary American sculpture by adopting an ambitious program of expansion and continuous renewal. DeCordova currently offers the only permanent public sculpture park in New England. Close to 80 modern and contemporary works grace the 35-acre site. The Museum’s Sculpture Terrace serves as an open air gallery for exhibitions by nationally recognized sculptors.

DeCordova plays a critical role in preserving today's regional art for future generations. With over 3000 works in its holdings, the Museum features an important Permanent Collection of New England contemporary art. In 1995, it established a $1.3 million Art Acquisition Fund.

For over five decades, the DeCordova Museum has expanded and adapted to meet the changing educational needs of its diverse constituents. In 1998, DeCordova completed The New Century Campaign for DeCordova, a $8 million effort to upgrade its aging physical plant. The Museum modernized and expanded its educational facilities, including the construction of a new studio, a store, and a gallery dedicated to exhibitions by Museum School instructors and students. DeCordova extensively renovated its main galleries, adding climate control, a café, and a library. All of the Museum's buildings now comply with ADA standards. DeCordova also expanded its exhibition space by building a 20,000 square foot addition, which includes a Sculpture Roof Terrace that provides breath-taking views of the Park. This new wing completes the facilities master plan that was designed by architects Kallmann McKinnell & Wood of Boston, who also designed the School Gallery building and the renovated Museum main galleries

On October 10, 2000, the DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park celebrated its 50th Anniversary. This event was significant not only for DeCordova but also for the entire New England art community as well. Now, DeCordova is the largest museum of modern and contemporary American art in the region. DeCordova continues to pursue the same unique mission as it did at its founding: the Museum is dedicated to the exhibition, collection, and preservation of works by living New England artists. Distinctive for being the only one of its kind in the region, DeCordova’s public Sculpture Park has also become internationally recognized for its programming. The Museum School features the largest non-degree granting studio art program in the state, along with providing many beneficial interpretive and outreach activities both on-site and to regional schools. A visit to DeCordova will be both enjoyable and educational. Whether you want to view our many interior exhibitions, wander through the Sculpture Park, participate in a class at the Museum School, enjoy lunch, or purchase art supplies, DeCordova will excite and inspire you.

From www.decordova.org/decordova/info/geninfo.html

Museum Main Galleries
Open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 am to 5 pm and on selected holidays. DeCordova offers educational programming for families, included with admission

Sculpture Park
Open year round during daylight hours

Open year round during daylight hours

Dog Policy–Pets are welcome in the Park. Dogs must be walked on a
leash at all times. Please clean up after pets.

Garden Name: DeCordova Museum & Sculpture Park Owner/Commissioner of Garden: Julian de Cordova Location: DeCordova Museum & Sculpture Park Address: 51 Sandy Pond Rd Lincoln, MA USA 01773 Hours: See Long description or go to their website Fees?: yes Garden Website: [Web Link] Rating: Parking Coordinates: Not Listed

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