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BILOXI, Miss. � Fire and storm swirl in an unlikely tale of the rebirth of a 19th-century Biloxi art potter and his 21st-century museum.
This rare international story captures the imagination of all who treasure art and architecture � or survival.
When George E. Ohr lost his life�s work and his pottery complex in an 1894 blaze that destroyed much of downtown Biloxi, he was undefeated. The clay wizard peddled $1 tickets, redeemable for wares once the self-styled Mud Dauber was back in business.
Ohr raised $800, or $17,300 in today�s dollars, to build a pottery complex that turned Mississippi clays into both utilitarian and magical shapes that awe the modern art world. Before clearing the fire debris, he salvaged hundreds of scorched clay pots, set them on shelves that rimmed his fence and affectionately called them his �burned babies.�
Ohr�s phoenix-like rebirth inspires the rejuvenation of a museum dedicated to him. It was designed by a 21st-century architectural wizard whose work is as sensual and zany as Ohr�s ceramics. Frank Gehry�s head-turning design was beginning to take shape on the Biloxi beachfront when Hurricane Katrina struck in August 2005.
The future of the ravaged Ohr-O�Keefe Museum of Art was uncertain. The scarred, leafless ancient oaks, integral to Gehry�s �Dance with the Trees� design, were pitiful. Although Gehry�s innovative techniques allowed for hurricanes, the structures were not far enough along in construction to withstand Katrina�s fury.
Two nearly completed �pods� of the four that would comprise the George E. Ohr Gallery opened like flower petals. The Center for Ceramics stood, but needs repairs and completion. The Gallery of African-American Art was hit by a barge; the Pleasant Reed House, built by a freed slave and moved to the museum�s campus as part of the its more encompassing cultural mission, simply disappeared.
Like Ohr in 1894, the museum staff, trustees and supporters, indeed the art world itself, stood on a precipice. Rebuild? Walk away? The costs to reconstruct and finish would be astronomical and money was uncertain in the wake of Katrina.
Like Ohr in 1894, no one threw in the proverbial towel.
First announced plans were to build back with just a part of Gehry�s original design. Now, with a $15 million insurance payment and other help from government and private grants and a small but continuous flow of donations, rebuilding plans have expanded and work is again under way.
�Since the storm, the museum has used the theme �Ohr Rising� because we are inspired by Ohr�s not only coming back after the fire but creating the best work of his life,� said Marjie Gowdy, the museum�s director.
When finished, the pods will be encased in angelhair-brushed stainless steel and topped with a glass atrium that will make the pods and tree limbs seem to dance as one.
A recent pod party was the museum�s message that it has accepted a vital role in the rebirth and economic redevelopment of the Katrina-ravaged Mississippi Coast.
The grand opening for at least three of the main buildings, including the Ohr Gallery, may come as early as December 2009. Construction contracts will be awarded in January.
�I believe the mission of the museum has changed since Katrina,� said Larry Clark, trustee president and co-owner of Butch Oustalet Autoplex in Gulfport. �We now have greater responsibility to promote historical and cultural preservation than before the storm. We have the opportunity to develop a quality of life that will make people want to live here.�
When Ohr rebuilt his pottery in 1894, the region was in the midst of an economic boom from the rising seafood industry. Now, the expected boom emanates from resort casinos and repackaging of coastal amenities that have long made this a desirable place to live and visit.
The Gehry-designed museum is expected to give art an even bigger post-Katrina role.
�We feel another part of our mission is economic development,� Clark said. �The museum can bring a caliber of tourists to the Coast that will be attracted no other way.�
When George Ohr rebuilt after the fire, he constructed an unusual pagoda tower that brought the curious and was featured in post cards.
There are other analogies to the 1894 fire. The museum is peddling fundraising clay bricks that could be Ohr�s long-ago tickets, and as for the burned babies, those could easily be the survivor oaks so integral to the Gehry design.
Only one oak was lost to the storm. Remaining trees have been trimmed of hurt limbs, fertilized and their soil aerated. They still hurt, but those who understand trees see the new-growth leaves as miraculous.
�The oaks make the Frank Gehry experience here unlike anywhere else � Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Bilbao, Spain,� said Clark.
Because of Gehry�s first impressions in 2000, the Ohr oaks will forever be in a protected dance that includes an upside-down water-fertilizing system under the terrace and buildings.
�Because of the trees, we were given the 3-inch rule by Gehry,� said Joey Crain, of Guild Hardy Architects, the Mississippi firm hired by Gehry. �We could move a surface up to three inches, but if we move it more, we have to get permission.�
As local project architect, Crain must see that all structural skeletons, mechanical systems such as air conditioning, and piers for the buildings and terrace coexist in tight spaces without compromising Gehry�s aesthetics. Modern technology made that possible.
�Arborists exposed every root, which gave us GPS points,� Crain said. �We reconstructed the root network on a computer and then we knew where we couldn�t put our 600 piles.�
Once the trees and major limbs were mapped and a scale model constructed, Gehry took snub-nosed pliers, tape and poster board and designed the buildings among the model trees.
Computer fabrications and other scale models led to Gehry�s final design. Groundbreaking came in 2003, and Gehry�s intriguing shapes began appearing.
Twenty-seven months after Katrina, 10 trucks arrived with giant pod sections - some replacements, others made before the storm but never installed. Now the dance begins again, and soon nine more oaks will be planted as future dance partners, as Gehry had planned even before the storm losses.
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