Page 37 - South Mississippi Living - March, 2016

Joe Moran (1915- 99) was a fixture on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, known as a fisherman, sailor,
boat designer and, later in life, a painter. Those who remember him simply describe him as a character.
“He had a sense of humor, that’s for sure. You never knew
what was going to come out of his mouth,” Beverly Moran said. She is his oldest daughter.
“To me, Daddy was real short and stocky. He wore a 17 1⁄2 shirt, and had big arms like his grandfather, George Ohr,” said artist Mary Moran, the seventh of his 11 children. Joe Moran, the son of Frederic and Clo Ohr Moran, was a young child when his famous potter grandfather died.
Moran’s family represented four generations of boat builders and fishermen. His father kept the active child busy in his shipyard where
Joe learned geometric shapes, linear patterns and boat designs as well as mixing paints to create various colors. During his time sailing as a child,
he gleaned from the fishermen how to read the wind, water ripples and currents.
During World War II, Joe moved his family to New Orleans when he went to work at Higgins Inc., a shipyard. His shallow draft design was instrumental in the development of the PT boats which were fast and armed with torpedoes. The Japanese called them “Devil Boats.” Joe continued to build boats when he returned to Biloxi after the war. However, the hurricanes
of the
late 1940s
devastated
his boat
yard.
During
one storm,
when his
home was
flooding,
he put his
children in a skiff, placed another one over them, tied the skiff around his waist and got them to dry land, according to Beverly.
“That was an experience. My father was the type of man who didn’t let anything get him down. He and mama would pick up the pieces and start over again. They had a lot of faith in God,” Beverly said.
There are many Joe Moran stories being shared at this time because the Maritime & Seafood Industry Museum is hosting a “Joe Moran Retrospective” through March 15 featuring original works, a video documentary, a
racing boat, family photographs
and memorabilia. His life’s accomplishments meld seamlessly with the museum’s various collections over three floors.
“To this point, there hasn’t been much done to honor Joe Moran. I was thrilled when the family said they would work with us to get this exhibit together. We have more than 40 pieces in the show, some from the family and some from private collectors,” said Robin Krohn David, executive director of the Maritime and Seafood Industry Museum.
Joe Moran was building race boats and was a pioneer in the sport of racing in Biloxi’s Back Bay when he
Beverly and Mary Moran flank a Blessing of the Fleet painting their father, Joe Moran, painted in 1982.
had a debilitating accident around 1960.
“He and my brothers were going
to flip a boat over that had 22 coats of varnish. It was like a mirror. They started turning it before daddy was ready, and as it fell, daddy caught it,” Beverly said. The strain impacted his heart. After a lengthy hospital stay, he was ordered to bed for six months. His wife, Dorothy Davis Moran, would read books to him and he started drawing. He took an art correspondence course.
“He would do a painting, mail it off and they would send it back telling him they couldn’t teach him anything because he had a God given talent,” Beverly said. His art mentor, William Steen of New York, also praised Joe’s natural talent.
Joe opened Moran’s Art Studio on Porter Avenue. He painted many subjects over the years — an estimated 2,500 pieces — but his most well known subjects were boats. At one time, his paintings hung in the Smithsonian and the White House.
His work is still available at Moran’s Art Studio, which was destroyed in Hurricane Katrina, but relocated to U.S. 90 in Ocean Springs.
March 2016 • SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living 37
Maritime & Seafood Industry Museum 115 1st St., Biloxi 228.435.6320 www.maritimemuseum.org
Moran’s Art Studio
1201 Bienville Blvd., Ocean Springs 228.818.8290 www.moransart.com
FOR MORE REFLECTIONS OF THE GULF COAST >> www.smliving.net
CUPOFJOE
The final Cup of Joe, an opportunity to meet Joe Moran’s children, will be 3 p.m. March 11 at Maritime & Seafood Industry Museum, $10 a person, call to make reservations.