Funding Still Available

Applications are still being accepted for the California Nonprofit Performing Arts Venues grant. If your independent nonprofit organization had an operating budget of less than $2 million in 2019, and if you produce or present any performing arts as part of your programming please consider applying. 

Read more here. 

Costa Mesa Arts Commission Appointed

The Costa Mesa City Council has appointed its first City Arts Commission. Pictured (left to right) are the first Commissioners sworn in by City Council: Commissioner Erica Lucia, District Director, California State Senate; Commissioner Allison Mann, Designer and stay at home mom for 15 years, as well as an actress in LA for 20 years, and previous owner & designer of Ranahan Jeans; Vice Chairperson Debora Wondercheck, Founder and CEO, Arts & Learning Conservatory; Chairperson Charlene Ashendorf, Community Connector; Commissioner Heidi Zuckerman, CEO and Director, Orange County Museum of Art; Commissioner Alisa Ochoa, Art Collections Specialist, self-employed Curator and Collections Manager.

Arts Orange County was contracted in 2018 by Costa Mesa to develop an Arts & Culture Master Plan, which was approved by the Costa Mesa City Council on March 16, 2021. The recent establishment of the City Arts Commission was one of the goals of this Master Plan. As Orange County’s local arts agency, ArtsOC offers contracted services, project management, and customized consulting services to help organizations and communities thrive.

To learn more about our consulting services, visit https://artsoc.org/consulting/

Bowers Museum Announces Passing of Longtime Leader

On November 10 the Bowers Museum announced the passing of its longtime President and CEO Dr. Peter C. Keller. 

“Peter Keller was an iconoclastic visionary who utterly transformed a rather staid institution—which many referred to as ‘Orange County’s attic’ before he arrived—into a magical place that showcases exciting and unusual treasures from around the world, capturing the imagination of a new generation of museum-goers,” said Richard Stein, President and CEO of Arts Orange County. “He served briefly on the Arts Orange County Board of Directors and in 2013 received its Helena Modjeska Cultural Legacy Award for his many longtime contributions to our arts community. Personally, I greatly enjoyed Peter’s no-nonsense candor whenever we had lunch or a glass of wine together. He didn’t follow the standard playbook, but marched to his own drummer. In so doing, his impact has been indelible.”

Read more here.

KPCC-FM Orange County Arts Summit

KPCC-FM’s Larry Mantle recently hosted an Orange County Arts Summit live event at the Orange County Museum of Art before an audience of more than 150. The event, which was aired on 89.3, has been posted here.

Scroll down to Summit of The Arts In Orange County and click “listen.”

Pictured (left to right): Larry Mantle; ArtsOC Board members Sara Guerrero (Breath of Fire Latina Theatre Ensemble), Logan Crow (The Frida Cinema), Tiffany Lopez (Dean, UCI Claire Trevor School of the Arts), and Thuy Vo Dang (Board Member, Vietnamese American Arts & Letters Association); Bil Schroeder (South Coast Repertory); Julie Perlin Lee (Laguna Art Museum).

Rich Legacy of OCMA

Many may not be aware that the Orange County Museum of Art’s new $93 million, 53,000-square-foot building on the campus of Segerstrom Center for the Arts is just the latest chapter of a complex history and legacy. The road from OCMA’s first 8,000 square-foot venue that opened in October 1962 as the Balboa Pavilion Gallery in Newport Beach is examined in a Visual Art Source article by longtime local art writer Liz Goldner.

Read more here.

In Memoriam

Arts Orange County is saddened to have lost the following members of our arts community:

Billy Al Bengston – Internationally acclaimed artist. His work is in the collections of the Laguna Art Museum, UCI Langson Institute and Museum of California Art, and Orange County Museum of Art. Former Board Member, Laguna Art Museum.

Bob Jones – Former General Director, Opera Pacific

Ron Whitacre – Renowned sculptor whose work has been collected throughout the United States and is presently on display in the Sculpture Exhibition in Newport Beach Civic Center Park.

We acknowledge with respect our presence on the ancestral lands of the Juaneño Band of Mission Indians - Acjachemen Nation and the Tongva People.