MONROE, La. (KTVE/KARD) — After a fire and then a hurricane halted plans for the Masur Museum of Art in Monroe, progress is being made!
In this week’s Destination Louisiane, we are showing you the museum’s first exhibition since 2017 and why it’s significant to northeast Louisiana.
The museum is the largest collecting and exhibiting visual arts museum in Northeast Louisiana and features art from a variety of time periods, styles and media. They present about 4 to 6 exhibitions a year.
“Right now on view we have two very different exhibitions that equally are great. We have Joey Slaughter, things are heavy, and that is all contemporary work by an artist based out of Rustin and we also have a collection by Cheryl and Will Sutton, which features African American art,” said Evelyn Stewart, Director, Masur Museum of Art.
Artist Joey Slaughter discussed the significance of his exhibit, “things are heavy.”
“I feel like everyone is dealing with something heavy in their life right now and so if you look around at some of the paintings, it’s paint skins, which is poured acrylic paint and the sculptures are on dolly’s so I think everyone needs a little help right now and support so this show kind of echoes that,” said Joey Slaughter, Artist.
Meanwhile, the collection from Cheryl and Will Sutton is titled “Art on Purpose.”
“One of those purposes is to create a lasting legacy. Art is not just for us, but it’s for future generations,” said Cheryl Sutton, Collector.
In addition to the beautiful works of art, the Masur Museum also holds special events, fundraisers and receptions.
“We do a lot of educational outreach and programming that goes along with the exhibitions, so every exhibition that we have, we have everything ranging from artist talks to art classes for children. We have a free monthly activity for kids of all ages,” said Stewart.
For a full list of events at this museum, head over to the website masurmuseum.org.
The museum will hold Party 318 on Thursday, October 20 to raise funds for its permanent collection. The event will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on 1400 South Grand St. in Monroe. Admission is free.