George Ohr Museum Struggles On the Redneck Riviera

Is the controversial George Ohr Museum doomed to follow the same fate as the controversial Mad Potter of Biloxi -- tucked away and forgotten?

Designed by architect Frank Gehry, the museum has been plaqued with problems from the start. It was under construction when Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005. Now open, but still incomplete, it has not attracted widespread local support. Attendance has lagged and contributions have dwindled as operating costs have soared. What began as a $4 million dollar project is now expected to cost $45 million when completed next year.

As the New York Times recently reported, "Part of the problem might have been the four supersize, twisted steel eggs that make up part of the galleries, which sat on the side of the road for years while the area tried to recover from the hurricane. Some loved it. Some hated it. And plenty of people along the stretch of the Gulf Coast often called the 'Redneck Riviera' wondered if there was room for high art and architecture amid the casinos and fishing charters."

While critics have praised both Behry's un-conventional design and Ohr's equally as un-conventional pottery it showcases, neither local residents nor the tourists streaming into the nearby casinos have warmed to it.

"It wasn’t really a popular thing for the city," Mayor A. J. Holloway has said. "The residents of the city were never really behind it."

And neither tourists nor admirers of George Ohr have been rushing to it.

"Museum backers and even civic leaders who do not much like the building still hope for what has come to be known as the 'Bilbao effect,' The Times reported. "When Mr. Gehry’s massive, titanium-clad Guggenheim Museum opened in Bilbao, Spain, in 1997, thousands of art tourists helped revive that dying industrial town."

So far that hasn't happened in Biloxi, and the museum is running out of money. The combination of fewer visitors than anticipated, plus higher construction and operating costs, has forced the museum to make drastic cutbacks.

“We’ll need some intervention within a matter of weeks or we will be totally out of funds,” said Larry Clark, president of the museum’s board.

The city says it is broke.

“They have been coming to us ever since it started,” said Mayor Holloway. “We help them as much as we can, but the financial condition of the city is real tough right now. We don’t have any surplus.”

It is estimated that the city of Biloxi has invested nearly 8 million dollars in the project, including $3.5 million for the site and $3 million to get construction started.

Art potter Bill Clark, who has studied George Ohr's pottery and his techniques, and who has visited the area several times, was left with this impression: "It seems to me that they built a beautiful and delicate spaceship-like structure with no regard for potentially damaging weather, and placed it in the middle of a cultural desert of casinos. They were hoping that Gehry's international recognition would put the city on the map in a big way. I believe the museum will gain more recognition, but it will take time for people to notice it as a destination.

Bill Clark continued, "I have often wondered why they did not choose to build an environmentally friendly 'hurricane proof' structure that would have drawn support and interest from anyone living on the Gulf Coast and around the world. For this area, it would have been a perfect blend of creativity in art, craft, engineering and science."

The O’Keefe Foundation, named after a local businessman, Jerry O’Keefe, the museum’s benefactor, has allowed an emergency infusion of $100,000. Several donors have also been tapped and a major fall fund-raiser sponsored by the Beau Rivage Resort and Casino is being planned.

Stay tuned for updates.

- Bruce Johnson

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