Two Philadelphia museums cancel popular summer camps
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Photo courtesy of Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University
The Academy of Natural Sciences and Penn Museum have unexpectedly nixed their longtime summer camp programs.
Why it matters: The programs were a one-of-a-kind Philly experience for a generation of kids — offering fun, reliable spaces to play and learn among world-class museum collections while school was out.
The big picture: Parents scrambling to find camps and programs for their children during the upcoming summer months now have two fewer options.
Driving the news: Penn Museum suspended its Anthropology Camp for the foreseeable future due to a hiring freeze at the University of Pennsylvania, which owns the institution.
- The West Philly museum is unable to cover the staffing needed to run the eight-week camp due to the hiring freeze, per a spokesperson for the museum.
- Since the camp started in 1998, roughly 12,000 students have taken part in the program.
Meanwhile, Drexel University's Academy of Natural Sciences said in a released statement it won't host its Science Camp because it's unable to offer "consistent Monday-Friday resources that a high-quality camp experience requires."
- A spokesperson for the natural sciences museum declined to comment further about the cancellation.
- The camp along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway has been operating for at least 20 years.
Flashback: The parent universities of both museums have faced financial challenges over the past year.
- In October 2025, the Drexel museum eliminated weekday hours due to low attendance and loss of federal funding. It's now only open on weekends.
- And the University of Pennsylvania put in place its hiring freeze along with other financial cutbacks early last year amid uncertainty over federal funding cuts from the Trump administration.
What they're saying: Ryan Barrett, a 43-Philly native who attended the natural science museum's camp for several years, said its cancellation was a huge loss for the city and kids.
- She recalled making friends at the camp and enjoying sleepovers in the museum near the dioramas.
- "It was this weird, visceral sadness that hit me when I heard the camp wasn't operating this summer," she said.
What we're watching: A spokesperson for Drexel's natural science museum says the institution's leaders will determine its 2027 summer programing later this year.