Open | Tu-Fr 9-5pm, Sat 12-5pm 
1400 S Grand St, Monroe, LA 71202 
318-329-2237 
About
The Masur Museum of Art is the largest contemporary art museum in Northeast Louisiana. Unique in its setting and renowned for its permanent collection and exhibitions, The Masur Museum provides an art experience that is distinctly local, emphasizing artists from Louisiana and the greater Southeast alongside artists of national and international importance.
The permanent collection includes works by Thomas Hart Benton, Mary Cassatt, Salvador Dali, Philip Guston, Joan Miró, Robert Motherwell, Pablo Picasso, and Auguste Rodin. Temporary exhibitions are curated year-round along with a full calendar of programming including art lectures, gallery tours, special presentations, art classes, and children’s workshops.
The museum’s rich history in collecting, preserving, and exhibiting art for the community and future generations to enjoy started with the building itself.
The Masur Museum of Art was originally built as a private residence in 1929. A lumberman by the name of Clarence Edward Slagle had the modified Tudor estate built for his wife Mabel. They called it Grey Gables, inspired by the Indiana limestone and Pennsylvania blue slate it is built with, which were transported on various waterways to the scenic Ouiachita River running behind the estate. Originally the grounds included an English style rose garden and a lawn extending down to the river. When the Army Corps of Engineers built the levee system in the 1930s, the home’s carriage house was moved twenty feet to sit behind the new levee.
In 1934 Clarence Slagle passed away and Mabel soon after sold the home to the Masur family. Sigmund and Beatrice Masur and their children Sylvian, Jack, and Bertha Marie, lived in the home until the 1960s. The Masur children donated the home to the City of Monroe in 1963 to be converted into a fine art museum. Initially the museum began to present exhibitions and art education through the hard work of docents and volunteers. In 1974, the Twin City Art Foundation was formed to provide additional support for the museum, providing funding for exhibitions, educational programs, and the permanent collection. To this day the Masur operates as a partnership between the City of Monroe and the Twin City Art Foundation. The Masur Museum of Art is a division of the Department of Community Affairs within the City of Monroe.
Mission Statement
The mission of the Masur Museum of Art is to provide a quality visual arts experience through temporary exhibitions, educational activities and programs, and collections management, for the citizens of Monroe and the community of Northeast Louisiana. As the largest visual arts museum in Northeast Louisiana, the Masur Museum of Art strives to support and foster visual arts in the cultural and educational life of the community.
Twin City
Art Foundation
Board of Trustees
Hal Hinchliffe, Chairman
Tiffany Jackson, President
Scott Higginbotham, Vice President
Cliff Tresner, Secretary-Treasurer
Douglas Breckenridge
Leigh Buffington
Ann Bloxom Smith
Drék Davis
Jay Davis
Gretchen Masur Dean
Chresancio Jackson
Sarah Hoffman
Gregory Hudgins
Winnie Tomeny
Sarah Jarrett
Kay La-France Knight
Patrik Pyburn
Kara Platt
Upcoming Exhibitions
62nd Annual Juried Competition
Feb 20 - May 3, 2025
Sponsored by
The Northeast Louisiana Arts Council
Exhibition on view Feb 20 – May 3, 2025
Public Reception: TBD
About the Juror
Annemarie Sawkins, PhD, is a Milwaukee-based independent curator, who has curated several exhibitions for the Masur Museum of Art including Kogyo: Japanese Woodblock Prints (2022), Treasures of Art Nouveau (2019) and Afghan War Rugs: The Modern Art of Central Asia (2018). Her more recent projects include Profound Prints: Art by Exceptional Women at the Hilliard Art Museum and A Creative Place at the Trout Museum of Art. From 1999 to 2012, she was a curator at the Haggerty Museum of Art at Marquette University. A frequent juror and portfolio reviewer, Annemarie Sawkins has a MA and PhD in Art/Architectural History from McGill University in Montreal, Canada.
About the Exhibition
The Masur Museum of Art’s Annual Juried Competition showcases contemporary artists throughout the United States of America working in any medium. First started in 1964, the Annual Juried Competition is the Masur Museum’s longest-running tradition and one of its best-reviewed exhibitions each year. Annually, 700-1000 recent artworks are submitted by artists all over the nation, in all styles and media. The Masur Museum is proud to offer cash awards totaling $3,200.
Submissions open October 1, 2024
Swimming in the Sky: Cliff Tresner
August 21, 2025 – November 1, 2025
Clifford Tresner attended Indiana State University, Terre Haute, IN, and earned a BFA in Sculpture/Woodworking in 1990. He received his MFA from The University of Mississippi in Oxford in 1994.
Mr. Tresner began his teaching career in earnest in 1997 as an assistant professor of art, tenure track at the University of Louisiana, Monroe, LA, where he taught all levels of sculpture and drawing. Mr. Tresner moved to teaching painting and drawing in 2013. He has held many positions over his career, most recently as the William D. Hammond Endowed Professor of Liberal Arts, 2017 – 2020 and the Art Program Coordinator at the University of Louisiana Monroe.
Supported by a grant from the Louisiana Division of the Arts, Office of Cultural Development, Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, in cooperation with the Louisiana State Arts Council, as administered by the Northeast Louisiana Arts Council. Funding has also been provided by the National Endowment for the Arts.
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