Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute

Day three of the Salt + Wood Fire Workshop, and these artists are cranking out work! Since Monday they have been working hard to get their work ready and dried out before the first bisque firing on Thursday So impressive! #mwpai #munsonclasses #uticany #madeinutica #ceramics #mwpsaltandwood #saltfirings #woodfiringkiln #pottery #ceramics #prattmwp

Some local scenery for a Sunday. Edward Gay, Irish (1837-1928) "The Mohawk Valley at Canajoharie, New York," 1876 Oil on canvas and cardboard with original frame, 55 x 75 in. Museum Purchase, 62.32

Experience more than 30 years of acquiring works by Black artists with Call & Response: Collecting African American Art opening Saturday. https://www.mwpai.org/view/exhibitions Alison Saar (American, born 1956)... "Delta Blues", 1998 Hammered Copper & Nails Over Wood, 38 x 18 x 25 in. Museum Purchase, 2002.24 Betye Saar (American, born 1926) "Return to Dream Time", 1990 Color Aquatint on Wove Paper, 30 x 22 in. Museum Purchase, 94.18.1 Romare Bearden (American, 1911-88) "Before the Dark", 1971 Collage on Board, 18 x 24 in. Museum Purchase, 72.8

It's been said, "No greater friendship exists than that of a good dog." Artist unknown, probably United States "Boy with Dog," 1830 Oil on canvas, 53 x 48 in. Museum Purchase, 56.61

WE'RE ONLY THREE DAYS AWAY!! "Emma Amos: Color Odyssey" opens Saturday.

Friday seems like a great time for an abstract, so let's go with one of its pioneers. Piet Mondrian, Dutch (1872-1944) No. 7, 1937-42 Oil on canvas, 31 x 24 7/16 in. Museum Purchase, 54.7

Only two days left to check out the Community Arts Education Student Exhibition, on view through June 17 in the PrattMWP Gallery. Don’t miss it!

After a day of viewing art, be sure to visit the Museum Shop. Check out our fascinating selection of items that complement the Museum’s exhibitions & collections, as well as products by over 100 regional artists & craftsmen.

Here's something interesting for Wednesday. Raymond B. Ridabock, American (1904-70) "Transom," 1953 Casein on cardboard, 18 x 29 in. Museum Purchase, 54.20

Repost from Pieces of Heart NY - Upstate Cerebral Palsy ! A group of artists spent their morning exploring MWPAI and their Terrible Beauty exhibition featuring sculptures by Richard Friedberg. They all had a blast viewing and learning about the art on display! Group photo from left to right: Sara, Austin, Steven, Kayla, Frank, Dean, Ed, and Nick.... #artondisplay #artmuseum #museumvisit #sculpture #uticaartsdistrict #utica #uticany #cnyarts #museumselfie #museumday

Emma Amos: Color Odyssey opens this Saturday! Bold mixed-media paintings by a trailblazing artist who challenged society regarding race, gender, and privilege will be showcased in Emma Amos: Color Odyssey, on view June 19 through September 12 in the Museum of Art. Emma Amos: Color Odyssey is a major retrospective of the artist’s distinguished six-decade career. The exhibition features more than 60 artworks Amos created from 1958 to 2015.... Emma Amos (American, 1937-2020) "Three Ladies", 1970 Color etching, relief and screenprint on multiple sheets of paper and vinyl Mylar. 63 X 39 1/2 in. Philadelphia Museum of Art

After an exciting but non-traditional semester our community art students have shown great determination to make awesome work, even with all of the Covid protocol in place! As the spring semester concludes this week, see their work in the multimedia Community Arts Education Student Exhibition, on view now through June 17 in the PrattMWP Gallery. Registration now open for the summer semester. Take a class!... #munsonclasses #uticany #mwpai #schoolofart

Our Watercolors Essentials mini-course begins January 21! Gain a foundation in watercolor painting through step-by-step techniques taught by Annette Gurdo from the comfort of your home via Zoom meetups. Register: https://register.mwpai.org/wconnect/CourseStatus.awp Art: Karen Seifert, watercolor, 2020

We've selected this untitled work by Tommy Brown as your art of the day. : Tommy Brown (American, born 1957), "Untitled," 2012 C-print, 9 1/2 23 7/8 in. Museum Purchase, 2014.1

Kurt Schwitters gave the term Mz (Merzzeichnung or Merz drawing) to his type of Dada collages, explaining Merz to be about the relationship between the artist and the material used: "The artist creates by choosing, dividing, and de-forming the materials. Materials can be de-formed by their mere distribution onto the picture surface." : Kurt Schwitters (German, 1887 - 1948), Hindenburg-Merzzeichnung, 157, 1920 Mixed media collage, 7 1/4 x 6 in. Museum Purchase, 52.53

Today’s art of the day is a handprinted collage titled Artemis by Nancy Spero. : Nancy Spero (American, 1926 - 2009), Artemis, 1989 Handprinting and handprinted collage on paper, 25 19 1/4 in. Museum Purchase 92.30

Pigmented cotton and linen rags make up this work by Phil Young. Here's your art of the day! : Phil Young (Cherokee and Scots-Irish, born 1947), "Excavated Memories: Ogunquit Day Labor II," 1984 Pigmented cotton and linen rag with stick incised lines 31 1/2 25 1/2 in. ... Museum Purchase, 85.10 See more

The Munson-Williams staff food drive was able to raise 200 non-perishable food items for the Utica Food Pantry and the Rescue Mission of Utica. Thanks to everyone who donated!

A fun way to engage with our online collection is through our virtual Museum tours! Check out our audio guides: https://mobile.mwpai.yourcultureconnect.com/experiences

Day 20 of the Museum Shop Holiday Countdown: Watercolor reproductions by Mary P. Murphy, of Barneveld, NY are available for $5.95 or as framed 5x7 prints for $25.

Here’s your art of the day! : Merlin F. Pollock (American, 1905 - 1996), Sunlight and Shadow, 1956 Watercolor and casein on wove paper 23 13/16 x 29 15/16 in.... Gift of David Tatham and Cleota Reed 96.30 See more

Treat yourself to today's scrumptious lunch special at the Terrace Cafe by O'Connor's: Chicken Pita BLT with smoked gouda, pesto mayo, and pickled onions.

Day 19 of the Museum Shop Holiday Countdown: Boxed Museum Notecards from our Permanent Collection "American Modernism", "Trenton Falls" for $15.95 "Thomas Cole's Voyage of Life" for $16.95

Join us for the Easton Pribble Lecture Series: Anthony Sonneberg on Monday, November 9, 10:30 a.m. Register now! https://www.mwpai.org//easton-pribble-visiting-artist-virt

There's just something soothing about this artwork. Enjoy! : Donald Evans (American, 1945 - 1977), "My Bonnie 1968-73," 1976 Watercolor, graphite, and ink on paper 7 1/8 7 1/8 in., ... Bequest of James H. Duffy, 2019.11.61 See more

A Closer Look Gallery Talk: Artists Sandra Stephens and Jeanne Proust Learn about "Breathing Skins," now on view in the exhibition "Celebrating Suffrage: Women Artists from the Collection." "Breathing Skins" is a collaboration between artists PrattMWP Associate Professor Sandra Stephens and Jeanne Proust.

Warm up with today's delicious lunch special at the Terrace Cafe by O'Connor's: Grilled Asparagus, Tomato, and Chevre with a cup of soup! $14

Classic Greek mythology is the topic of today's Museum From Home by Curator of 19th-Century American Art Miranda Hofelt. The United States was less than 50 years old when Joshua Shaw created this painting. The newly formed country was obsessed with origin stories from Greek and Roman mythology. Shaw bolstered this national preoccupation by painting a scene from Virgil’s Aeneid. This epic tale tells the story of the Trojan prince Aeneas, who the gods ordain to journey from ...the fallen city of Troy to establish what would become the Roman Empire. Although the title focuses on the star-crossed lovers, Shaw hides Dido and Aeneas riding on horseback in the far right. The central elements in the scene, instead, are a wine-filled urn and dancing maenads, female followers of Bacchus, the god of agriculture, wine, and fertility. The wine and maenads may refer to the love affair between Dido and Aeneas, which climaxes during the hunt. But the gathering storm in the painting’s upper left foreshadows a tragic ending when Jupiter commands Aeneas to follow his destiny, leaving a bereft Dido, who commits suicide. Stories of heroes choosing duty and nation over love reoccurred in American art throughout the early 1800s. Shaw’s painting exemplifies how artists incorporated mythological scenes to teach patriotic virtues, while also elevating landscape to the status of ‘high art.' Joshua Shaw, "Dido and Aeneas Going to the Hunt," 1831 (English, 1776-1860; active in the United States, after 1817), oil on canvas, 36 1/2 x 49 1/4 x 4 in. Museum Purchase, 60.197 See more

Today's Museum From Home by Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art Mary Murray captures an election night scene from the Roaring '20s. Glenn Coleman moved to New York from Indianapolis in 1905 and became a student of artist Robert Henri. Henri urged young painters to travel around town making drawings and studying contemporary life; he believed the art of the new 20th-century had to be of its own time. Coleman heeded this instruction, sketching his way from Coney Island, thr...ough the Bowery and the docks at Coenties Slip, to Greenwich Village. In 1928, Coleman turned his drawings from 20 years earlier into a suite of twelve lithographic prints. "Bonfire (Election Night)" is from that collection. The imagery of an older city may have been a nostalgic trip for the artist. With the easy wealth of the Roaring ‘20s, skyscrapers sprang up in smart city blocks, by contrast, the neighborhoods Coleman depicted were among New York’s oldest, full of quirky streets lined with human-scaled buildings. There was always a teeming crowd on parade for Coleman’s inquisitive eye and pencil. Harpo Marx was a child in that old New York. In his autobiography, "Harpo Speaks!," the comedian recollected the Tammany Hall-era political machine that elected its preferred candidate for Mayor every two years. Marx described it as a holiday that lasted for a day and a half, with beer and cigars passed around to men and firecrackers for kids. In the evening, boys dragged found wood and lit big bonfires; Harpo said, Grandpa enjoyed the sight as much as I did . . . He pulled his chair closer to the window and lit the butt of his Tammany stogie. : Glenn O. Coleman (American, 1887-1932), "Bonfire (Election Night)," 1928, lithograph on paper, 13 x 18 in. (image), Gift of Edward W. Root, 53.243 See more

In Paris 1913, together with fellow American expatriate Stanton Macdonald-Wright, Morgan Russell founded the modernist movement they called Synchromism, meaning with color. We can recognize "Cosmic Synchromy" as one of Russell’s most important Synchromist paintings, produced at the moment when he had condently developed his own original style, which would preserve his place in the history of modernist painting. : Morgan Russell (American, 1886 - 1953), "Cosmic Synchromy,"... 1913-1914 Oil on canvas, 23 x 20 x 1 1/2 in. Museum Purchase 57.26 See more

If you didn't already participate in early voting, make your voice heard by casting your ballot on Election Day (Tuesday, November 3)! : White's Pottery, active Utica, New York (1838-1907) "Pitcher," 1890-1907 Stoneware, 8 1/2 x 5 1/8 in.... Museum Purchase, 85.33.7 See more

It's that time again, here's your art of the day! : Arthur B. Davies (American, 1862-1928), "The Hand of the Morning," c. 1920 Oil on canvas, 18 7/16 x 30 3/16 in. ... Gift of M. Knoedler & Co., Inc., 54.45 See more

Happy Halloween! We chose this etching by Wanda Gág for today's art of the day. : Wanda Gág (American, 1893 - 1946), "Connecticut Churchyard," 1934 Medium:... Wood engraving on paper, 8 1/2 x 5 7/16 in. Gift of Edward W. Root, 53.284 See more

With the recent announcement that movie theaters are allowed to resume operations, we are making plans to restart the MWPAI Film Series very soon. All health and safety protocols will be followed, masks will be required at all times, there will be assigned seating, and the auditorium will undergo proper cleaning and sanitization with appropriate air circulation and filtration. Thank you for your patience. We can't wait to welcome you back for some great films.

Get ready for today's scrumptious special: Oysters Bienville with crab, pimentos, petite greens, and a demitasse of soup - $16 Try it at the Terrace Cafe by O'Connor's!

Hedda Sterne composed this prismatic painting by balancing horizontal and vertical lines that simultaneously create the illusion of three-dimensional space as well as emphasize the two-dimensional planarity of the picture's surface. The painting's subtle, warm palette of shimmering golden hues, ranging from ochre to lemon yellow, suggests a light-infused, cathedral-like space. Sterne employs these formalist, abstract painting devices to convey deeply spiritual concerns. :... Hedda Sterne (American, 1916 - 2011), Untitled, 1984 Acrylic and crayon on canvas, 71 7/8 x 52 3/8 in. Gift of Clara Diament Sujo 97.9 See more

Sometimes, you just need a moment of peace to collect your thoughts. Here's "Solitude" by William Frederik de Haas. : William Frederik de Haas (American, born Dutch, 1830 - 1880), "Solitude," 1880 Oil on paper mounted to pulp chip board 8 1/4 x 12 15/16 in., Proctor Collection, PC. 52