Utica, N.Y. — Munson reinstalled the Alexander Calder sculpture “Three Arches” (1963) on Tuesday, April 29, in front of the museum’s Genesee Street entrance. The reinstallation is part of a Downtown Revitalization Initiative project funded by New York State. Partial funding for conservation of “Three Arches” comes from the Greater Hudson Heritage Network.
“The reinstallation of Munson’s Calder sculpture represents the crowning jewel of Munson’s Genesee Street lawn,” said Stephen Harrison, director and chief curator. “The sculpture has been conserved and repositioned on a new, lighted pad so that it will be shown to its best advantage.”
Commissioned for the newly constructed art museum in 1963 from the artist, the work was praised by Philip Johnson, architect of the building, as “the handsomest piece [by Calder] I have seen.”
To celebrate the return of “Three Arches,” the Munson Museum of Art will present a focus exhibition on Calder and his work this spring in the Cardamone Gallery. Featuring sculpture and works on paper from Munson’s collection and archives, the exhibition “salutes the lively spirit that permeates all of Calder’s artwork,” according to Mary Murray, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art.
About the Artist: Alexander Calder (1898–1976) was a pioneering American sculptor renowned for transforming the landscape of modern art with his invention of the mobile—kinetic sculptures animated by air currents—as well as his monumental static works, known as stabiles. Over the course of his prolific career, Calder created a vast body of work ranging from delicate wire figures to towering public commissions across the globe, including major installations for the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, UNESCO in Paris, and the World Trade Center in New York. His work is held in major museum collections worldwide, including the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Centre Pompidou. With their bold forms and buoyant energy, Calder’s sculptures continue to inspire and animate public spaces with a spirit of movement and joy.
About Munson: Munson is an internationally recognized fine arts organization in Utica, serving diverse audiences through the renowned Munson 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. For more information, visit munson.art.