Munson-Williams to offer free art and family-friendly events
Feb. 13, 2023. UTICA — Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute announces free events on Feb. 23 and two new Museum of Art exhibitions on view this month.
February’s Art Alive! Family Day at the Museum will be Thursday, Feb. 23, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., followed by the PrattMWP Easton Pribble Lecture Series with DC artist Shaunté Gates at 3:30 p.m. in the Bank of Utica-Sinnott Family Auditorium at the Museum of Art. Both events are free and open to the public.
The family-friendly Art Alive! will feature funk and hip-hop group The Secret Agency with a free performance at 11 a.m. and free songwriting workshop at 1 p.m. The event will also include hands-on crafts for all ages and interactive robot demonstrations by MUCCBots, the robotics team of the Midtown Utica Community Center.
Also on Feb. 23, the public is invited at 3:30 p.m. to hear a presentation by artist Shaunté Gates, whose work “There’s No Place Like Home” is included in and inspired the current exhibition “No Place Like Home,” on view at the Museum of Art through Mar. 19.
A mixed media collage and video artist, Gates addresses his real-world experiences through dreamlike and mythic landscapes based on his childhood in Washington, D.C. The layers of paint and paper reflect the layers of his memories. The images recall a particular geography, the people who lived there, and experiences over time in Gates’ public housing neighborhood in the nation’s capital.
In addition to “No Place Like Home,” Munson-Williams presents “InSight: Photography at Munson-Williams,” which opens Feb. 22. Both exhibitions are on view in the Museum of Art and feature works from the permanent collection. Read more about both below.
Admission to the Museum of Art is free year-round, except when noted for special exhibitions or events. Munson-Williams is at 310 Genesee St. in downtown Utica. For more information, visit www.mwpai.org or call 315-797-0000.
*There will be a press tour of “InSight” and “No Place Like Home” with Mary Murray, curator of modern and contemporary art, at 11 a.m. on Feb. 28. This will give media members an opportunity to conduct interviews and gather images from the exhibition*
“InSight: Photography at Munson-Williams” - Open Feb. 22-April 23 - Free
Munson-Williams’ Museum of Art opens the vaults to present rare works in photography from its collection in InSight, an exhibition that examines contemporary life through the lens of history, nature, portraiture, and photojournalism.
The powerful, dramatic six-part portfolio by Dread Scott, “Slave Rebellion Reenactment Performance Stills (2020),” will be seen for the first time at Munson-Williams alongside the work of renowned photographers Tommy Brown, Donna Ferrato, Ralph Gibson, and William Wegman, among many others.
“No Place Like Home” - Open through March 19 - Free
Home, as a concept or location, occupies a prominent place in everyone’s lives. It is the place we were raised, the rooms we occupy, and the memories formed there.
These interpretations are explored in the exhibition “No Place Like Home,” open now in the Museum of Art. Highlights include Shaunté Gates’ “There’s No Place Like Home” in which the artist portrays mythological figures in the setting of Washington, D.C., his childhood home, in a mixed media collage of photographs, American history textbook paper and charcoal. Syracuse-based Jerome Witkin narrates an unhappy childhood memory of the dissolution of a family through his three-part painting “Division Street.” Themes of migration and mobility are explored in Yinka Shonibare’s “Doll House,” which views the impact of colonialism.
###
About Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute
Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute (Munson-Williams) is an internationally prominent fine arts center serving diverse audiences through three program divisions — Museum of Art, School of Art, and Performing Arts. The Institute was founded in 1919 and annually hosts some 600 events for patrons to enjoy exhibitions, performances, art classes, and family-oriented activities.
The Museum of Art is renowned for its art collection and iconic building designed by Phillip Johnson. It is among the nation’s most significant mid-sized art museums. Its renowned permanent collection is focused on 300 years of fine and decorative arts, with strengths in 19th-century American painting and decorative arts, 20th-century through contemporary painting and sculpture, and European Modernism paintings.
The School of Art offers a robust community arts education program featuring a wide range of art classes for the community at large. It also offers a college art program affiliated with Pratt Institute of Art and Design (Pratt MWP) where 200 students spend the first two years of their bachelor of fine arts degree program at the Munson-Williams campus in Utica before completing their studies at Pratt’s main campus in Brooklyn.
The Performing Arts division presents world-famous soloists and ensembles, rising stars, recitals with commentary, cinema, family programs, outdoor festivals and concerts, and a wide array of art-related events in the museum’s 270-seat auditorium or sculpture court, which seats 500 patrons. Regular attractions include a weekly film series, Concerts in the Court, Keyboard Conversations, the For Kids and Families programs, and an annual summer arts festival.
Munson-Williams is located in the heart of New York State with easy travel to the Adirondack region, Cooperstown, Syracuse, and Albany, and just a few hours from Boston, New York, and Montreal. More information can be found at www.mwpai.org.
