MUNSON FOR ALL
The Campaign for the Next Generation
MUNSON: THE HEART OF ARTS AND CULTURE IN UTICA
More than 100 years ago, the Munson-WilliamsProctor family donated their homes and their fine and decorative art collections to establish a multifaceted arts center for the people of Utica and the greater Mohawk Valley. Munson quickly became the center of arts and culture in the region.
In 1956, a generous bequest from Edward Wales Root ushered in a new era for Munson, bringing critical acclaim to our Modern Art collection and inspiring leadership to commission a new Museum of Art building by renowned architect Philip Johnson. Through its three programs—the Museum of Art, School of Art, and Performing Arts—Munson engages more than 100,000 people with the arts each year.
Munson fosters lively connections with its community and strives to make art accessible to all. Admission to the Museum has always been free, reflecting our conviction that everyone should have access to the transformative power of art. As we enter our second century, Munson reaffirms its mission to serve as a vibrant cultural hub and a source of inspiration, education, entertainment, and social connection for all.
Image above: Alexander Calder (American, 1898–1976), Three Arches, 1963. Painted Sheet Steel. 108 x 145 x 112 1/2 in. Museum Purchase, 63.98. © 2025 Calder Foundation, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
MUNSON’S $9.5 MILLION CAMPAIGN
Today, as Utica embarks on a cultural and economic renaissance, Munson is here to meet the moment.
Munson has launched an $9.5 million campaign to fund key Museum of Art upgrades and renovations aimed at expanding community access, capacity, and engagement. We want people to come to the Museum, feel at home, and stay a while. Interior and exterior capital improvements, some of which are already underway, will make the outside of the Museum more inviting and the inside more welcoming.
Priority capital improvements include:
• Revitalized Art Odyssey Interactive Gallery
• New Museum Café
• Expanded Museum Store
• Refreshed Genesee Street landscape
• Upgraded facilities and building systems
• Improved outdoor event space
• Universal access to the Museum from Genesee Street
New programmatic initiative:
• Community Engagement Fund
view into Munson’s new Museum Store
Art Odyssey, reimagined
CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS
REVITALIZED INTERACTIVE GALLERY
For two decades, visitors of all ages have drawn inspiration from Munson’s art collection to sketch, paint, sculpt, read, reflect, and relax. Munson For All will enable us to move our interactive gallery, Art Odyssey, to a more central location, expand its footprint, and completely redesign its interactive stations. Instantly visible and enticing, it will sit adjacent to the Museum’s Genesee Street entrance. The redesigned space will include hands-on and digital activities directly linked to the collection and a comfortable reading nook stocked with books.
NEW MUSEUM CAFÉ
At Munson, visitor comfort and convenience are paramount, so we plan to build a new, self-sustaining café that will serve warm and cold beverages and an array of snacks in close proximity to the galleries. The space will also serve as a staging area for catered events, paving the way for the Root Court to become one of the most beautiful and flexible event spaces in the Mohawk Valley.
EXPANDED MUSEUM STORE
The campaign will enable Munson to combine its two retail operations, the Museum Store and the Pratt Munson Campus Store, into one expanded experience. The store will be located on the ground level next to the Museum’s parking lot entrance, allowing for more convenient hours. The expanded and modernized shop will feature a diverse inventory of unique and curated gifts as well as high-end art supplies not found elsewhere in our community.
MORE WELCOMING STREETFRONT
With help from New York’s Department of State Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) and several private donors, Munson has already implemented renovations to our Genesee Street landscape. More than 14 new shade trees line the street. Public gardens border the Museum’s front lawn, and a new public plaza offers outdoor event space and universal access to the Museum.
FACILITY AND SYSTEMS UPGRADES
The Munson For All campaign will enable us to update our worn 1960s restrooms with modern, hygienic, ADA-compliant facilities. Other renovations to the physical plant will improve ventilation and enhance accessibility. These upgrades will allow the Museum to provide a more comfortable, safe, and inclusive visitor experience for all.
MUNSON FOR ALL The Campaign
for the Next Generation
The Munson For All campaign will help us welcome many more people into our creative community and offer everyone the rewards of creative exploration.
DEEPENING MUNSON’S ENGAGEMENT
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT FUND
Community service is in our DNA. Year after year, Munson offers free quality programs that touch thousands of lives. With your support, we can reach thousands more.
The Munson For All campaign will establish a dedicated Community Engagement Fund to secure the future of vital free and low-cost programs. Your gift today creates ripples of creative opportunity for generations to come.
We’ve teamed up with local school districts for decades, giving free tours and supplemental arts education to thousands of children every year. We partner with more than 40 local agencies and dozens of community organizations, including Mohawk Valley Frontiers, The Center, Midtown Utica Community Center, Thea Bowman House, and Young Scholars, among others. Our most popular programs includes Art Alive!, a free program offered during public school breaks, hosting hundreds of children and their caregivers for art-making activities and a familyfriendly live performance in our Sinnott Family–Bank of Utica Auditorium. Art Story is an early learning program developed in partnership with Thea Bowman House, serving hundreds of delighted preschoolers annually. In the past year, our Education Department served more than 11,000 children. It is our great privilege to nurture the creativity of our community’s kids.
Our programs also feature outreach and engagement opportunities for adult populations in the community, including Kelberman Center participants, refugees working with The Center, the Mohawk Valley Latino Association, and our own African American Community Partners.
A CULTURE OF CREATIVITY IN THE MOHAWK VALLEY
Eighty years of easy access to arts education have given rise to a local culture of creativity.
At Munson, we believe that universal access to the arts makes us a stronger, smarter, kinder, and more inclusive community. As home to both the prestigious Pratt Munson College of Art and Design and a robust Community Arts program, Munson’s unparalleled studio spaces serve everyone from curious beginners to dedicated artists. Through classes and community programs, we create countless opportunities for people to experience the joy of making art, and we’ve expanded access by offering financial assistance to adults and children to ensure all may participate. In addition, we offer free art classes to children during the summer. A love of creative expression is ingrained in our local culture. It is who we are. The Munson For All campaign will help us welcome many more people into our creative community and offer everyone the rewards of creative exploration.
DRIVING TOURISM AND GROWTH IN THE MOHAWK VALLEY
Utica’s renaissance will be the rising tide that lifts all boats, and Munson is happy to partner in that effort. Our 10-acre, 24-building downtown campus is still the beating heart of arts and culture in the region. With our outstanding collection, a vast array of classes and programs, and a full calendar of over 600 community and performing arts events each year, Munson is the place to see new things, develop new skills, recharge your creative energy, and connect with your community. Employers recruiting new talent to the region can point to Munson as a vibrant cultural resource capable of meeting a variety of needs, from a pleasant diversion on a snowy afternoon to a place of profound personal growth.
The Munson For All campaign enables us to build stateof-the-art amenities in the Museum, refresh the visitor experience, contribute to the revitalization of downtown Utica, and do even more to cultivate the creative, enterprising spirit of the greater Mohawk Valley.
Celestial Bodies: Sculpture by Karen LaMonte
