Historic City Hall Arts & Cultural Center will open a new exhibition entitled “35 Years of Victor Monsour”. The opening reception will take place Friday, June 17 from 5:30-8pm in the second floor gallery. (Note this date is a postponement of the original date which was slated June 10.) The exhibition will consist of 30 of Monsour’s iconic photographs of various subjects and will hang through September 17, 2016.   

Victor Monsour is a name associated with excellence in photography and generous philanthropy. Monsour’s career started when he was just a kid with a Kodak Brownie. He enrolled in Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, Calif., where he earned four scholarships and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in photographic science with portrait and industrial majors. While there, he also earned a one- week scholarship to assist NASA photographers at Aims Research Center in Sunnydale, Calif. His work has been featured locally, statewide and nationally.

In the Spring of 2014, Monsour was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and had to make many changes in his life, including his photography business of 35 years. Local photographer, Jason Carroll, was hand chosen by Monsour to carry on the legacy of the business.

Jason Caroll said, “The team here at Monsour’s Photography thinks that honoring the name sake and vison of the company is the least that we could do. We want to support Victor along with his wife, Tamara, and children - Megan, Reagan, and Blake. In honor of Victor’s professionalism and dedication we decided to have an exhibition with some of Victor’s archived photographs.”

The reception will include hors d'oeuvres, cash bar, award presentation, silent auction, and guest speakers. The event is funded through donations from friends and colleagues. The remaining funds along with proceeds from the silent auction will be given as a donation to the Alzheimer’s Foundation in Victor Monsour’s name. The photographs in the exhibition will be for sale during the entirety of the exhibition and the net funds will go directly to Victor Monsour.

For information contact Tiffany Fontenot at Monsour’s Photography (337) 433-2333 or tiffany@monsoursphotography.net

Historic City Hall is open Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Admission is free, but donations are gladly accepted. Charlestown Farmers’ Market is open on Bilbo Street behind the center every Saturday 8 a.m.-noon. For more information, please call 491-9147 or visit www.cityoflakecharles.com.