Bearnstow is located on sixty-five acres of wooded land on Parker Pond in Mount Vernon, Maine, at the headwaters of the west branch of the Forty Mile River, part of the Androscoggin watershed. Our 2,400 feet of shoreline and twelve rustic buildings, most nearly a century old, are protected by conservation easement by the Kennebec Land Trust. Our oldest structure, the Lodge, was the only building Class on the rocky shore at Bearnstow on the lake on the 1880 geological survey. Bearnstow is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Founded in 1946 by Ruth Grauert and Frances Reid, Bearnstow has had a rich history of arts-related activities linked to a practice of environmental responsibility. Throughout our history the resonance of place in all activities has been central to our mission. Our unspoiled environment provides an alternative freedom for aesthetic expression away from the constrictions of city life. Our attention to the care of place, land, and spirit is central to our daily practice.

Bearnstow’s current summer programs, directed by Ruth Grauert and Bebe Miller, for both adults and children, emphasize the connection between environment and learning. The immediacy of our natural surroundings affects the breadth and depth of the learning that takes place, for both teacher and student. For adults we offer weeklong workshops in movement studies for professional and pre-professional dancers taught by a world-class faculty. For a snapshot of a dancer's summer experience at Bearnstow, read Stories From Camp by Susan Douglas Roberts. For children we offer a two-week Day Camp session in arts and creative physical activities, with classes in dance, art, swimming, and horsemanship. See directions to the camp.