The Board of Trustees for the Ohr O’Keefe Museum of Art has hired David Houston to take the reins at the museum starting this month. The board announced its decision after a four-month nationwide search.

Houston was named Chief Curator of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans in 2001. At the Ogden, he organized a wide range of exhibitions and programs that focused on the American South. He broke down barriers between art, music, popular culture, and the general public, expanding the vision of what an art museum could be.

He next led the curatorial team at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, at the time of its opening in 2011.

In 2013, he became Executive Director and Chief Curator of the Bo Bartlett Center at Columbus State University in Georgia, overseeing the transformation of a cotton warehouse into a contemporary art center. The flexible space hosts exhibitions, public programs and houses art, sketchbooks and the archives of contemporary realist painter Bo Bartlett.

Houston led the Bartlett Center until 2019. Since then, he has worked independently as an art historian and curator based in Brooklyn.

He has taught at The University of New Orleans and The Brandenburg Technical University, Germany, and has authored more than 40 books, exhibition catalogs and articles on architecture, art, and photography.

Bruno Milanese, board president, stated “We have a legendary artist showcased in a museum designed by a world-famous architect. David Houston is the ideal candidate to ensure George Ohr, the museum and Frank Gehry are deservedly honored and celebrated.”

The Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art is a non-profit art museum located in Biloxi, MS. The Ohr O’Keefe Museum of Art’s mission is to promote and preserve the unique legacy of Biloxi potter George E. Ohr and the diverse cultural heritage of the Mississippi Gulf Coast; and to exhibit works which exemplify the independent, innovative, and creative spirit of George Ohr, emancipated craftsman Pleasant Reed, and Ohr O’Keefe Museum architect Frank Gehry.