Munson Celebrates Completion of Major Landscape Project

New York State's DRI for Utica was highlighted on Wednesday as Munson celebrated its transformational landscape project along Genesee Street with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, marking the completion of one of the largest projects included in Utica’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant from New York State.

"Following years of planning, Munson, working with Steele Landscape Architecture, has created a stunning, accessible, and welcoming community space that restores Philip Johnson’s original vision for the Museum and uses native greenery to give the area a park-like feel," according to a release from Munson.

“The Munson Genesee Street project transformed a barren and concrete-heavy landscape to a welcoming, park-like setting with trees, gardens, and community spaces,” states Anna D’Ambrosio, Munson President and CEO. “It will create an accessible front entrance to the Museum of Art, a beautiful setting for events, and will recapture the essential neighborhood environment lost over the last few decades.”

Munson's landscape project was completed just in time for their Summer Arts festival, which is scheduled to run this year from July 12 - July 20, 2025.

Munson used the $819,000 grant, along with several private donations, to completely reimagine the properties landscape that included the creation of a 49,000-square-foot community-access contemporary park, along with an ADA-accessible Genesee Street entrance to the Museum featuring a paved garden path leading to a welcoming plaza for public use and private events.

The project also allowed for the return of the Museum’s sculpture Three Arches (1963) by Alexander Calder, to the Museum’s front lawn after being restored with funding through the Greater Hudson Heritage Network. Calder, the celebrated modern artist, has work in permanent collections around the world, including the Whitney, the Guggenheim, MoMA, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, and nearby in Albany’s Rockefeller Empire State Plaza Art Collection.

Munson is an internationally recognized fine arts organization in Utica, serving diverse audiences through a renowned Museum of Art, live performances and events, community arts classes, and Pratt Munson College of Art and Design, the upstate extension campus of the prestigious Pratt Institute.

In addition to the landscaping project at Munson, other projects funded by the Utica DRI include:

•Enhancing The Center - an employment center offering culturally and linguistically appropriate training and employment services for diverse populations working in the region.

•Renovating the Macartovin commercial space to attract businesses to the City's commercial corridor;

•Supporting the activation of the DeSales Center providing elevator access to the upper floors.

•Rehabilitating Veterans' Fitness and Wellness Center;

•Redeveloping Oneida National Bank building to establish Mohawk Valley's Commercial Kitchen/Food Incubator;

•Constructing mixed-use Artspace Utica: Affordable Live/Work Artist Housing and;

•Rehabilitating the Utica Public Library Genesee Street corridor.