Museums
Moran's Art Studio
1201 Bienville Blvd, Ocean Springs
Joe Moran grew up building boats on Biloxi's back bay — his mother's father was George E. Ohr, Biloxi's "Mad Potter" — until a 1959 accident pushed him toward a sketchbook instead. What followed was decades of Gulf Coast oil paintings good enough to land in the Smithsonian and in the hands of two U.S. presidents. Hurricane Katrina destroyed his original Biloxi gallery in 2005, so today his children carry on the business from a cottage-style studio in Ocean Springs.
Getting There
Moran's Art Studio isn't in Biloxi — it's over the bridge in Ocean Springs, about 15 minutes from the casino strip on Beach Boulevard. Head east on Highway 90 and cross the Biloxi Bay Bridge; the studio sits on Highway 90, also called Bienville Boulevard, at 1201 Bienville Blvd, on your right as you come into town. It's easy to spot by its teal-roofed cottage front and covered porch, with free parking out front. If you're already in Ocean Springs for Front Beach or the Walter Anderson Museum, it's a short add to that loop.
What to Expect
Moran spent his first career building boats, and it shows — his paintings are full of shrimp trawlers, back-bay marsh grass, and the gray-gold light the Mississippi Sound gets before a storm. He started painting almost by accident, sketching boats from a hospital bed after a 1959 injury, and by the time he died in 1999 his oils hung in the Smithsonian and had gone home with sitting vice presidents. His children run the gallery now, and it still feels like a family operation: original oils and acrylics, signed prints, a framing counter, and usually a Moran on hand who can tell you which shrimp boat is which.
Good to Know
The studio keeps shopkeeper's hours: Monday through Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., closed Sunday. Call 228-818-8290 before you drive over — a small family gallery can close without notice for a framing job or a funeral. There's no admission fee; it's a working gallery and frame shop, not a museum, so budget for the possibility of leaving with a painting. Original Joe Moran oils have only climbed in price since Katrina thinned out the supply, but signed prints are a more affordable way to take home a piece of his coastline.
Our Take
Skip it if you only want a quick photo. But if you'd rather leave Biloxi with something real, Moran's is worth the short drive across the bridge. Not many places left let you buy a painting from the artist's actual children in the actual building, and the shrimp-boat scenes hit different once you know the man who painted them used to build the boats himself. Call ahead — small family-run galleries keep flexible hours.
Details last verified August 2026. Always confirm current hours and prices directly with the attraction.