château de montsoreau-museum of contemporary art project began in november 2014. in june 2015, philippe méaille and created a surprise in france, jointly announcing the signing of a long-term lease (between the maine-et-loire department and philippe méaille) on the chateau de montsoreau property. the château de montsoreau-museum of contemporary art becoming the first château of the loire valley to be transformed into a museum of contemporary art. despite the desire of both parties to create an international museum of contemporary art, and the ability from méaille to endowing it with the world's largest collection of works by the radical conceptualists of art &amp; language, and to seize the opportunity to develop the international tourist audience of the loire valley, the announcement created controversy. frédéric béatse, former mayor of angers, and socialist political leader, protests against what he calls « a sale of a jewel of the department to a private foreign player ». gérard persin (mayor of montsoreau), and christian gillet both reacted very quickly to these protests during a press conference. gérard persin stated: « it is a pride to have been chosen to host a center of contemporary art of international stature ». christian gillet put the project in its international ambition and potential development for the territory: « the idea of philippe méaille, connoisseur and lover of the site, is to install a center of contemporary art featuring his collection, already world famous and renowned, we have considered an interesting challenge ». and philippe méaille clarified his intentions: « this public-private partnership appeared to us as an innovative solution that will be integrated into the saumur territory in its entirety: saumur and its agglomeration but also the nearby fontevraud abbey ».