By Michelle LaGuerre
UTICA, N.Y. — Munson will open a new three-artist exhibition, “Munson Are You Experienced exhibition,” on Friday, Oct. 9, offering Mohawk Valley residents a free look at contemporary painting, sculpture, sound and installation art.
The exhibition will remain on view through Dec. 13 in the Pratt Munson Gallery inside Fountain Elms, 310 Genesee St. An opening reception is scheduled from 3 to 5 p.m. Oct. 9. Both the reception and the exhibition are free and open to the public.
Three artists build one connected experience
Artists Patrick Brennan, Stephanie McMahon and Linda Sormin have created three environments that unfold as visitors move through the gallery. Each artist uses a different visual language, but the rooms are connected through materials, sound, space and sightlines.
The result is not presented as three unrelated displays. Instead, visitors move through a sequence. Painting may lead into sculpture, and physical objects may share space with video or sound. The layout encourages people to notice how one room changes their understanding of the next.
According to the artists’ exhibition statement, “Are You Experienced” is “less about arriving at a destination than about the experience of searching itself.” The statement says the exhibition gradually opens toward a horizon that is not fixed, but discovered through the act of looking.
That approach asks visitors to slow down. The work is not built around one required interpretation. It invites people to observe color, texture, movement and sound, then decide how the pieces relate to their own experiences.
Patrick Brennan explores perception and memory
Brennan is an assistant professor of painting and drawing at Alfred University’s School of Art and Design. His work crosses the boundaries between painting, sculpture, installation and moving images.
Munson says Brennan uses immersive settings and physical materials to examine perception, memory and the way spaces shape experience. He has shown work in the United States and abroad and is represented by Halsey McKay Gallery.
The press release includes an image of Brennan’s “Mystery City,” a 2025 mixed-media work on wood panel. That image has been added to this article with credit to Munson.
Stephanie McMahon works between observation and abstraction
McMahon is a professor of painting at Alfred University and a co-founder of the Alfred/Düsseldorf Master of Fine Arts painting and residency program.
Her paintings begin with observations of particular places. She then reduces and reshapes those observations through color, elemental forms and abstraction. Munson describes the work as balancing intuitive gestures with deliberate structure.
That combination may give viewers recognizable points of entry without telling them exactly what to see. Shapes can suggest familiar objects or landscapes, then shift into something less literal.
Linda Sormin creates multisensory installations
Sormin is a New York City artist and professor of studio art at New York University. Her current practice combines ceramics, sculpture and installation with video, sound, hand-cut watercolor paintings and digital fabrication.
Her work is held in major public collections, including the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery, the Gardiner Museum in Toronto, the CLAY Museum of Ceramic Art in Denmark, the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
Sormin’s use of several art forms fits the exhibition’s larger focus on movement and discovery. Visitors may experience an object differently when it is paired with sound, moving images or another material.
Why the exhibition matters locally
Free exhibitions give residents a low-cost way to encounter work by artists with national and international records. They also support Utica’s growing identity as a regional arts center.
Pratt Munson brings college-level art education into the same organization that operates the museum, community classes and public programs. An exhibition like this connects students, working artists, families and casual museum visitors in one space.
The opening reception adds another opportunity. Visitors can see the exhibition in a social setting and discuss the work with other guests. No ticket purchase is required.
Hours and visitor information
The Pratt Munson Gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. Munson is located at 310 Genesee St. in Utica.
Visitors should check Munson’s official “Are You Experienced” exhibition page for updates before traveling. General information about exhibitions, classes and events is available at munson.art.
At a glance: Opening reception, 3 to 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 9. Exhibition dates, Oct. 9 through Dec. 13. Location, Pratt Munson Gallery in Fountain Elms, 310 Genesee St., Utica. Admission is free.
