Description
CLEARANCE
Architect Frank Gehry completed the design of the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum in 2003. Construction began in 2004. In early 2005, a group of board members and volunteers conceived of the d’Ohrs of Ohr Project: a public display of artwork created on actual doors primarily by local and regional artists to celebrate the opening of the museum as well as to raise funds through the eventual sale of the actual art doors and a commemorative book.
On August 29, 2005, the nation’s worst natural disaster, Hurricane Katrina, decimated the homes, businesses, governmental operations, and infrastructure of the three coastal Mississippi counties. The existing museum and the new Gehry-designed campus under construction were both severely damaged. The d’Ohrs of Ohr Project was put on hold.
By 2007, with the new museum primed for reconstruction, a resurgence of energy propelled the project forward and the d’Ohrs Committee began anew. The rules were simple: each unique canvas must integrate the likeness or name of George Ohr. The artists’ efforts are showcased in this book. The d’Ohrs Project completion coincided with the opening of Phase I of the new museum. The book includes a brief history of George Ohr and the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art, color plates of each of the fifty art works, short biographies, and an artist statement by each participating artist.
Photographs by James Edward Bates
