Page 33 - South Mississippi Living - April, 2019

FOR MORE REFLECTIONS OF THE GULF COAST >> www.smliving.net April 2019 • SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living 33
my work,” he said. “I believe as
a potter that it’s partially about creativity, but working with clay is primarily about material science.”
Biloxi. While Barney said Ohr,
one of the namesakes of the Ohr- O’Keefe Museum of Art, is some large creative shoes to fill, he
is up for the challenge, even if
it’s inadvertently. “I completely immersed myself in the world of Ohr,” he said. “In that process, I had a dream where George Ohr came to me and asked me to
carry on his vaudeville tradition
of pottery as performance art
and in the dream, I visualized a contraption made from antique machine parts that would allow
me to suspend myself upside down. I took the machine to the Ohr-O’keefe Museum and the AP (Associated Press) picked up a story about my performance art and commitment to STEM and
they gave me the name the Mad Potter of Bay St. Louis. Today, I get to perform across the state under this name. It’s not a name I gave myself. It’s a name the media and the Ohr’O’Keefe Museum gave me. It’s been amazing.”
Barney said it was a trip to a local Coast institution that changed
his life and persona, creating his alter ego, the Mad Potter of Bay
St. Louis. “About six years ago, I went to the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum in Biloxi and I was blown away
by the entire feel of the place with the Frank Gehry-designed abstract building with the oak trees on
the water,” he said. “I was really inspired by George Ohr’s artwork and captivated by his life. I wanted to learn as much about him as I could.
Ohr, a Biloxi native, was a ceramics artist who made a name for himself as the Mad Potter of