All Mississippi residents with proper identification will be admitted free to the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art on Labor Day, Sept. 5.
Come and visit Phase I of the Frank Gehry-designed campus and view the artistic works of mixed media artist and Mississippi native William Dunlap, photographer Herman Leonard and Mississippi potter Brian Nettles. And, of course the permanent exhibitions of master potter George Ohr and emancipated slave Pleasant Reed.
Visit the Ohr-O’Keefe and enjoy all that makes the museum unique: the artists, the architecture, the history and the landscape. In a fitting tribute to George Ohr, architect Frank Gehry has designed an award-winning campus of bold, intriguing, self-sufficient structures that together create a single unified vision connected by the expansive brick plaza and majestic Live oaks.
The museum café is open for lunch and Starbucks Coffee is available all day. The museum store specializes in the fine art and craft of Mississippi artists.
Current exhibits
“Above All, Enjoy the Music: Jazz Photography by Herman Leonard,” through Nov. 26 in the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino Gallery/ Gallery of African American Art.
“Above All, Enjoy the Music” features 40 evocative masterworks by Herman Leonard, whose black and white photographs include jazz icons such as Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday. Herman Leonard (1923-2010) was both a great photographer as well as a jazz aficionado, who created a dazzling visual collection of the world he loved. The exhibition honors jazz as an American art form, with roots that began in the African American community of New Orleans in the 1890s and exploded on the New York club scene in the 1940s. Funded in part by the Mississippi Arts Commission, a state agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.
“William Dunlap: Look At It … Think About It,” through Dec. 3 in the IP Casino Resort Spa Exhibitions Gallery.
The nationally recognized work of Mississippi native son William Dunlap reminds us of the importance of our own cultural history though use of rich artifacts. His large landscape paintings combined with assemblages of familiar found objects invite viewers to examine their own cultural roots and consider what has been lost in today’s world. Look At It … Think About It symbolically represents life experiences and exploration of historical tradition. Dunlap’s use of recurrent characters suggests the intricate strata of history and its repetition of themes. The exhibit is funded be IP Casino Resort Spa and R&B Feder Charitable Foundation for the Beaux-Arts.
“Brian Nettles: Design in Three Dimensions,” through Nov. 26 in the Mississippi Sound Welcome Center.
The ceramic work of Mississippi artist Brian Nettles is influenced by nature’s shapes, forms, textures and rich organic colors found on his 28 acre studio site in Pass Christian, Mississippi. Located along the banks of the winding Wolf River, the nearby bayous, creeks and cypress swamps provide inspiration.
Regular museum hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. The museum is located at 386 Beach Blvd. in Biloxi.
For more information, visit www.georgeohr.org or call (228) 374-5547.