Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute's permanent collection of more than 15,000 objects originated in the taste and interests of the Williams and Proctor families, who collected American and European paintings, and decorative arts in the late 19th and 20th centuries. In 1957, a bequest of more than 200 major 20th-century American paintings and drawings made the museum a major repository for the art of this era.
The collection and exhibitions are housed in a Philip Johnson-designed building, and the adjacent original museum building, Fountain Elms (see separate listing), was reconfigured as a Victorian house museum