Free Admission on Smithsonian Magazine’s Museum Day

The Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art will open its doors free of charge to all Museum Day ticket holders on Saturday, September 21, 2019, as part of Smithsonian magazine’s 15th annual Museum Day, a national celebration of boundless curiosity in which participating museums emulate the free admission policy at the Smithsonian Institution’s Washington D.C.-based museums.

Museum Day represents a nationwide commitment to access, equity and inclusion. Over 450,000 tickets were downloaded for last year’s event, and Museum Day 2019 is expected to attract more museumgoers than ever before.

This year, Museum Day will celebrate the Smithsonian Year of Music, an institution-wide initiative celebrating the Smithsonian’s vast musical collections and resources through 365 days of music-related programming. Music is not only a reflection of human creativity and innovation but also a key method of communication and cross-cultural exchange and understanding. The Smithsonian Year of Music crosses disciplines, bringing together music-related resources in art, history, culture, science, and education.

Get your ticket here!

/by

Ohr Fest Video Premiere Unveils Limited VIP Beer Stein

Ohr Fest 2019 is fast approaching! Admission is free but those participating in the beer tasting will need to purchase a wristband. With a wristband, donors receive unlimited 3 oz. taster pours. VIP level wristbands also come with our annual limited-edition beer stein made right here in our City of Biloxi Center for Ceramics by Ceramics Director Charlie Mabry. VIP purchasers will also enjoy three full pours of beers of their choice during the festival along with their taster pours. The limited-edition beer steins can be seen in the new Ohr Fest promotional video below.

The festival will offer a diverse array of arts and craft vendors, craft beer tents, a homebrewers’ competition, live music, a ceramics throw-down between the coast’s finest potters, a whacky ceramics-based performance by the Mad Potter of Bay St. Louis Steve Barney, and some of the Southeast’s most sought after food trucks—all on the beautiful Biloxi Town Green.

The cost of admission is free, but access to the beer tents will require purchasing an armband:

General Admission armbands: $35
Buyers will receive unlimited 3 oz. beer pours.

VIP armbands: $60
Buyers will receive a commemorative ceramic beer stein(a $40 value)
Three full 16 oz. pours.
Unlimited 3 oz. pours.

*Only 100 VIP armbands will be available for purchase.

This year’s festival thanks Premier sponsors TD Ameritrade and the City of Biloxi. Support also provided by Coca-Cola, F.E.B. Distributing, The Harrison County Board of Supervisors, Lazy Magnolia Brewery, The Mississippi Arts Commission, Mitchell Distributing, and Yeastie Beastie Homebrew Supplies. Contact community@georgeohr.org to get involved as a vendor or sponsor.

Get your wristbands now and join us on the Biloxi Town Green on October 5th from 11 am to 8 pm!

 

/by

John McDonald Digital Mural on View at OOMA

The Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art is proud to announce that Gulfport-native painter John McDonald’s 12’ x 6’ digital painting “Shore Birds” is now on view in the Mississippi Sound Welcome Center.

“Shore Birds” is the result of more than 10 years of work that serves to highlight the roots of painting as a process rather than relying on the power behind Photoshop to produce a digital painting. McDonald began the work on canvas and transferred the work to digital via a 6-step process which he will discuss at OOMA’s next opening reception for new exhibits on September 26th from 5 to 7:30 pm. The artist will speak at 6 pm.

John McDonald was born in Bay St. Louis and received his BFA from The University of Georgia in 1976. He received his MFA from Yale University in 1978. McDonald went on to work in art preparation and handling for the Museum of Modern Art, The Guggenheim Museum of Art, The Rothko Art Foundation, The Dia Art Foundation, and Pace Gallery in New York before returning to the Mississippi Gulf Coast in 1985. Throughout his career as a working artist, he has won a long list of grants and awards including the Ford Foundation Grant, Southern Arts Federation Grant, the Pollock Krasner Foundation Grant, and more. His work can be found in the Mississippi Museum of Art, Lauren Rogers Museum of Art, and seen at Heriad-Cimino Gallery, and The Painting Center, New York.

/by

“The World Through My Eyes” Program Receives Funding, Brings Student Work to Museum

The Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art has received a grant from Wells Fargo to continue a new program that promotes art literacy in South Mississippi schools.

 

“The World Through My Eyes” began this year as a collaborative project between the museum and school districts in Hancock, Harrison, and Jackson counties in South Mississippi. It brings professional artists into a participating classroom to guide the creation of student artwork and then installs student artwork as a three-month exhibit at the museum.

 

The goal of “The World Through My Eyes” is to expose school children to the arts and invite them to the museum through experiential art education. The program is open to classrooms from kindergarten through 12th grades and gives teachers and students the tools to connect fields of study to the arts.

 

Funding from Wells Fargo allows this program to expand and benefit more students around the Mississippi Gulf Coast. This grant will help to cover the costs of art supplies, artist compensation and installation for the exhibit.

 

During the first collaboration, artists Rebecca Alston and Allison Stewart worked with 20 fourth- and fifth-grade gifted students from West Wortham Elementary and Middle School. The artists and students created work that explored the importance of protecting and valuing their local environment on land and in the sea.

 

The first exhibit for “The World Through My Eyes” opened May 17 and remains on view.

/by