Adopt-A-Monument / Mural

Conserving public art through private funds

1987–present

In response to the deterioration of many of New York City’s outdoor statues and public murals in hospitals, schools and libraries, and the limited resources to preserve them, The Municipal Art Society initiated the Adopt-A-Monument program in 1987 and the Adopt-A-Mural program in 1991. Both programs were born as pleas to corporate and private donors to support the conservation of the city’s most neglected public statues and threatened murals. Today the programs protect 53 works of public art across all five boroughs.

The work of the Adopt-A-Monument Program is supported in part by generous funding from the Achelis & Bodman Foundation, the Anna-Maria & Stephen Kellen Foundation, and the Paul and Klara Porzelt Foundation.

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Leaders hold ribbon at Henry Ward Beecher Monument Dedication in Brooklyn

Henry Ward Beecher Monument Dedication, 2017.

MAS Adopt-A-Monument Program Director Phyllis Cohen gives an overview of the program and tells the story of three notable restorations - the Die Lorelie Fountain in the Bronx, the Bellringers in Herald Square, and the Evangeline Blashfield Fountain in Midtown.

To track our achievements, we have created an interactive map of all the monuments throughout New York City that have been restored and preserved through the Adopt-A-Monument program.

Help us conserve public art across the five boroughs

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