NEW YORK.-/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ United Technologies Corp. today released three newly commissioned paintings that will go on display, large scale on billboards, in New York City this coming September. The paintings were commissioned to celebrate the company's 25 years of support for the arts. In addition to the paintings, UTC will underwrite a major exhibition of rarely seen drawings by Vincent van Gogh at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

"Over the past 25 years United Technologies has enthusiastically supported the arts, providing more than $55 million in funding and sponsoring 54 exhibitions on four continents," said UTC Chairman and Chief Executive Officer George David. "We are a company founded on innovation and believe the arts, like science and engineering, both inspire us and challenge our notions of impossibility."

The three artists involved in the project are:

* Alex Katz, an American known for his portraits and unique style of modern realism. Mr. Katz's painting is entitled "Give Me Tomorrow" and will be displayed on a billboard at 40 East 4th Street. The painting will be painted directly on the billboard by professional billboard painters;

* Gary Hume, a British artist whose work ranges from figurative pop culture to abstract works. Mr. Hume's painting is entitled "Cheerleader" and will be displayed on a billboard at 55 Houston Street. The painting was painted on vinyl by professional billboard painters and will be unrolled during the day on September 8th.

* Lisa Sanditz, an emerging American artist known for her colorful cubist landscapes. Ms. Sanditz's painting is entitled "Tie-Dye in the Wilderness" and will be displayed on a billboard at 343 Canal St. (Sanditz).

Professional billboard painters will recreate the Katz and Sanditz pieces beginning in late August. On September 8th, Mr. Hume's painting, which was painted on vinyl this summer, will be unrolled onto the building. The others will gradually emerge over the course of a few days. UTC will celebrate the new art with an opening night party at B Bar the evening of September 8th (Mr. Katz's painting will be on the billboard above B Bar at the Bowery and East 4th Street.)

UTC has also commissioned the renowned photographer Robert Polidori to photograph the completed billboards and interpret each piece in their environment as a lasting record of the way the works were displayed in public.

The art is scheduled to remain on display until November 1st. The original paintings will remain the property of the artists.

UTC will sponsor The Metropolitan Museum of Art's exhibition Vincent van Gogh: The Drawings, on display at the Museum from October 18 through December 31, 2005.

Museum Director Philippe de Montebello commented: "More than just a supporter of the arts, United Technologies is a supporter of artists and the creative process. Their celebration of new art along with the once-in-a- lifetime Van Gogh exhibition are two ends of a common thread that run through its corporate history."

The exhibition, produced in collaboration with the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, where it is on view this summer, includes more than 100 of Van Gogh's rarely seen drawings, brought together from public and private collections throughout the world.

Gary Tinterow, the Engelhard Curator-in-Charge of the Department of Nineteenth-Century, Modern, and Contemporary Art at the Metropolitan Museum, said, "It is a happy occasion when a corporate sponsor celebrates its cultural patronage by commissioning new works of art. Millions of New Yorkers will pass by the billboards that UTC will create, many to be introduced for the first time to the work of Hume, Katz, and Sanditz. Van Gogh is now a well-recognized name, but we hope many of those same New Yorkers will take the opportunity to visit the exhibition of Van Gogh drawings at the Met, made possible by UTC, so that they can be introduced to some of the most powerful and cogent watercolors and drawings ever made."

Coinciding with the billboard project, UTC will launch the "Art in the Park" project in Hartford, CT, home to its corporate headquarters. "Art in the Park" will bring together students from the city of Hartford to participate in a master-class on public art's function taught by Sanditz on September 24, 2005. The master class will help the students brainstorm and design murals that will be displayed on the backs of benches this fall in Bushnell Park in Hartford.

United Technologies (NYSE: UTX), based in Hartford, Conn., is a diversified company that provides high technology products and services to the aerospace and commercial building industries worldwide. UTC's businesses include Otis Elevator, Carrier heating and air conditioning, UTC Fire & Security, UTC Power, Pratt & Whitney aircraft engines, Hamilton Sundstrand aerospace systems, and Sikorsky helicopters. Fortune Magazine has ranked UTC as the "Most Admired" aerospace company every year since 2001 based on criteria including social responsibility, innovation and financial performance.