The story behind the new mural going up on the side of Mary Mahoney’s in Biloxi

Rue Magnolia and the Biloxi Art District are well-known for their unique locally owned restaurants, shops and art galleries, all of which have drawn large crowds on the highly anticipated First Friday events every month.

But thanks to COVID-19, the bustling area of town has been empty, with no signs of human activity — until now.

Passersby can’t help but notice a new mural that came to fruition in April at Mary Mahoney’s Old French House.

The mural is the handiwork of Zach DePolo, a Biloxi native now based out of New Orleans.

DePolo, a former teacher at the Ohr-O’keefe Museum, has worked in the film/TV/commercial business as a production designer, prop master and on-set dresser in other states and countries for the past seven years.

DePolo said Corey Christie with the Biloxi Public Arts program and the Ohr-Okeefe Museum approached him last summer.

Bobby Mahoney, owner of Biloxi’s iconic Mary Mahoney’s restaurant, is a collector of Ohr’s works.

“I’ve always wanted something panted on that wall,” Mahoney said of the exterior of his restaurant.

When Mahoney was approached with the George Ohr design, “I said, ‘wow,’ I’d love to have that. I want to promote George E. Ohr in Biloxi.”

The project was funded through donations from local citizens and businesses along with a grant from the Gulf Coast Community Foundation.

The mural is based on the classic optical illusion of vase/face in which the silhouette of a vase in seen in black and the contours of two faces on either side are seen in white.

“I took this idea and it morphed into a whimsical play between Ohr and his vases with his mustache-like handles swirling through the entire piece,” DePolo said.

DePolo worked alone, but was assisted by Biloxi graphic designer David Maclay, who helped him lay out his design in digital format for the projector to get the proportions correct.

For the first time, he painted without paintbrushes, opting instead to use different-sized rollers on a long extension pole.

“It made the process so much more efficient, and it felt more natural to be able to have a proper distance between me and the wall while working much like standing at an easel,” he said.

He is currently working on phase two of the mural — an image of Ohr’s optical illusion puzzle containing backwards text and the hidden phrase “Biloxi Art Pottery” in the design.

DePolo added Nolan Broussard Jr. of Biloxi to his team to help with the carpentry aspects of the project.

Plans are in the works for DePolo to complete another large-scale mural of historic Mississippi artist Dusti Bongé of Biloxi.

“Having world-class artists on the Coast is such an inspiration,” he said.

“To get to see what they could achieve on a world-class level while not being in a ‘big city’ was eye-opening to me as a kid. I hope this mural makes more people aware of the international treasure we have on the Coast in the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum.”

For more info on the artist, visit: www.zachdepolo.me or follow @depolozach on Instagram.