Zonta Club of Montpellier Marie DE Montpellier Continues to Support Museum Visits

In 2013, the initiative by the Zonta Club of Montpelier Marie de Montpelier, District 30, called the "Visions de Femmes" course was set up. This was done with the active support of Michel Hilaire, chief curator of heritage and director of the Fabre Museum. Twelve paintings were chosen from the rich collections of the museum that reflected the evolution of women through centuries.

In 2014, in collaboration with associations and social services in Montpellier, groups of women coming from precarious life circumstances were accompanied by club members from the Zonta Club of Montpellier Marie de Montpellier and given a guided tour by the staff members of the Fabre Museum. The paintings presented focused on the themes chosen for the visit and focused on women's empowerment.

In 2019, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of Zonta, the Zonta Clubs de France combined their actions under the name "Museums for All". Under the patronage of Yoyo Maeght of the MAEGHT Foundation, more than 25 clubs organized visits to museums in their cities and welcomed groups throughout the year. These actions will continue in the future in France.

Thanks to the initiative of the Zonta Club of Montpellier Marie de Montpellier and the support of the governors of District 30, Michèle Rossano, Sigrid Duden and Vladimira Tracheva, the kindness of Past International President Maria Jose Landeira-Oestergaard and International President Suzanne von Bassewitz and the help of Christine Mousset, chair of French Zonta clubs, that this project has been able to develop.

The event “Museums for All” had wide media coverage in Occitanie, the third French region where Montpellier is located, including interviews on tv, four radio stations, and newspaper articles.