Ohr-O'Keefe Museum of Art
Museum lease OK'd as collateral for loan By MICHAEL NEWSOM
BILOXI - The Ohr-O'Keefe Museum of Art is a year away from its scheduled July 12 opening, "the Mad Potter" George Ohr's 149th birthday. The Biloxi City Council on Tuesday gave Jerry O'Keefe, the director of the Ohr-O'Keefe building fund, permission to use the lease of the property the museum leased from the city, which is valued at $3.2 million, as collateral for a $5 million bank loan so construction on the $30 million project can continue. […]
The project started in 1998 with a price tag of $12 million and a commitment from Biloxi for $1 million. O'Keefe said the museum plan has changed drastically since then. The museum was tweaked to allow for the construction of a large building to house exhibits dedicated to the contributions of blacks to Mississippi culture. There also will be sculptures of Ohr, who lived in Biloxi in the 1800s and made his pottery from clay he collected on the banks of the Tchoutacabouffa River. There will be ceramics exhibits, a welcome center with a cafe called "The Mad Potter's Tea Room" and a film about the life of Ohr. Art classes also will be taught on site. O'Keefe said some of the six buildings will be completed this year. Marjie Gowdy, executive director of the museum, said she and other workers have been preparing for the museum opening a little every day. "We have a month-by-month playbook on what every person involved in the museum should do," Gowdy said. "On any given day, any given month, there are probably 15 to 20 staff, board members and volunteers working on something."
Gowdy and other staff members have been working with representatives from architect Frank Gehry's office. Gehry is recognized by many as the world's foremost architect, museum workers said. Gehry was recently chosen to redesign six skyscrapers in Brooklyn near the new arena for the NBA's New Jersey Nets, which was the subject of a New York Times story Tuesday.
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Pollack documentary to focus on Gehry, Ohr By PAM FIRMIN
A documentary directed by Sidney Pollack about his longtime friend and acclaimed architect Frank Gehry is in wrap-up stages and includes footage about the new Ohr-O'Keefe Museum in Biloxi, which was designed by Gehry. The film, which will debut in mid-2006 on PBS's "American Masters," looks at the architectural process through five years of Gehry's work. It is expected to be shown in Biloxi during the museum's opening events. A copy that will be donated to the museum will contain additional footage and extra scenes of Gehry's work on the museum. "Sketches of Frank Gehry" is produced by Ultan Guilfoyle of New York by way of Ireland, who said work started on the film five years ago, about the same time Gehry started work on the Ohr museum. "We show Frank developing the plans for the George Ohr Museum and working with the models," Guilfoyle said. "We're in an evolutionary process in the course of the file. We see his first sketch, see him cut out some wood to create the footprint of the Ohr museum. "He is in his studio (in Los Angeles) literally tearing paper to create a model of what he wanted the museum to be." Guilfoyle reports that Gehry jokes in "Sketches" that he abandoned one sketch, because he realized he was starting to make his buildings look like George Ohr pots. Gehry talks during the film about the trees and the way they work with the neighborhood, about Biloxi, about George Ohr and shows pictures of Ohr's work to Pollack, describing how there's a gallery with niches for Ohr's pots. Guilfoyle said the concept for the film evolved from Gehry's and Pollack's discussions with one another about the strictures on creativity created by working in a tough environment, and how they each might have an impact. Pollack directed "Tootsie" and "The Interpreter," and was on the Coast in 1966 to direct "This Property is Condemned," which starred Natalie Wood and Robert Redford. He won an Oscar for best director for "Out of Africa."
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