The Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art, which next month launches a huge exhibit to mark the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, is seeking sponsors for the planting of seven of the 19 more Live oaks on its beachfront campus.
The planting, which will be performed Feb. 20 by volunteers from Mississippi Power Co., is part of the museum’s “Reviving the Oaks” initiative, where the museum is restoring trees in place of the 18 Live oaks it lost to Hurricane Katrina.
In fact, with this planting, the museum will have planted 26 trees since Katrina. An initial planting of Live oaks took place in October when Mississippi Power Co.’s Community Connects volunteers planted five Live oaks.
The initiative is an attempt to eventually restore the Ohr site to its pre-Katrina look. When world-renowned architect Frank Gehry first looked at the site for the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art on east beach, he envisioned shiny buildings nestled neatly among the grove of majestic oak trees. So construction began, and the idea of a museum “dancing with the trees” began to take shape. Unfortunately, not long after construction began, Hurricane Katrina came along, decimating the Ohr-O’Keefe and destroying 18 of the 36 live oaks on the four-acre campus.
Want to get involved? The Ohr O’Keefe Museum of Art is accepting sponsors for seven more oaks. If you’re interested in being a sponsor – cost is $100, which pays for a  five-foot oak and a commemorative plaque – contact Ohr assistant director Carol Messer at 228-374-5547 or at assistantdirector@georgeohr.org
