Utica, N.Y. — Munson’s annual holiday exhibition returns this year as “Victorian Yuletide: Fancy Goods,” a joyful celebration of 200 years of the Erie Canal, featuring the creative and commercial results of New York’s most important 19th-century waterway project. Come see the fancy goods that helped shape a shopping legacy that defines today’s holiday experience! “Victorian Yuletide: Fancy Goods” is on view in Fountain Elms from Tuesday, Nov. 11 through Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, and is free and open to the public.
Munson joins organizations throughout New York State in celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Erie Canal, which opened trade, spurred Westward expansion, and ushered in a new industrial era for the nation. The exhibition highlights Munson artworks from the era that were both useful and luxurious, incorporating additional borrowed pieces from local collections, spread over two floors of galleries in Fountain Elms.
Downstairs will feature products representing the new kinds of manufacturing and vast wealth that developed during and after the canal’s construction. The rooms overflow with local silver, canal-shipped finery, and personalized gifts. Upstairs, visitors can discover how local potters developed signature decorative styles, transforming everyday stoneware into works of art. Throughout the display, advertisements from local publications show businesses competing for attention and dollars.
Thursday, Dec 11, Munson will host a Holiday Open House from 5 to 7 p.m. Immerse yourself in the festive decorated rooms of Fountain Elms, take a ride in a horse-drawn wagon, and stop in for cookies and hot chocolate at the Terrace Café. Visit the Root Court to make a homemade ornament, listen to live music, or purchase gifts at the Art Market and Museum Shop.
For more information, visit munson.art/yuletide.
“Victorian Yuletide” 2025 is sponsored by Gail Kulaga.
For media inquiries, please contact Katie Voce, communications manager, at 315-797-0000 ext. 2147 or via email at kvoce@munson.art.
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Munson is at 310 Genesee St. in Utica. For more information, visit munson.art.
About Munson
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.
