CHOICE OF SPOTS IN LOCAL ART SHOW RAISES IRE

Go on, Hugh Davies, I dare you. Go ahead and select a few dozen San Diegans for inclusion in a show of “emerging” local artists at the La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art. I dare you not to offend a lot more artists than you honor.

Now that La Jolla museum director Davies has released the names of the artists to be featured in “A San Diego Exhibition: Forty-two Emerging Artists” March 23 through April 28, the cries of outrage are audible. Already, there are charges of sexism: 30 men and 12 women are on the list.

Davies--who made the choices along with curators Burnett Miller and Lynda Forsha--insisted that no appeasements will be made and that no “quota system” of age, gender or ethnic background was applied. It’s a purely aesthetic matter, he said, based on these criteria: Every artist chosen had to be “under-recognized,” never benefiting from a one-person show or inclusion in a group exhibit at the La Jolla or San Diego art museums. Davies called these “loose guidelines,” however.

For the record, the 12 female artists are Beth Accomando, Sara-Jo Berman, Merryl Cicourel, Suda House, Margaret Honda, Nancy Kay, Babette Mangolte, Ellen Salk, Joyan Saunders, Deborah Small, Gillian Theobald and Carol Vidstrand. The men include Wick Alexander, Carlos Anzaldua, David Avalos, Richard Baker, Kenneth Capps, Philip-Dimitri Galas, Guillermo Gomez-Pena, Raul Guerrero, Mario Lara, Fred Lonidier, Mark-Elliott Lugo, Luke Theodore Morrison, Roy David Rogers, Michael Schnorr, Ernest Silva and Peter Stearns.

Also for the record, at least sculptor Kenneth Capps, photographer Fred Lonidier and installation artist Mario Lara have enjoyed one-man shows during the past year. Performance artists Poyesis Genetica (Gomez-Pena, Morrison and Berman) have headlined repeatedly at Sushi. Capps in particular is anything but “under-recognized” in this city. Painter Mark-Elliott Lugo happens also to be the art critic of the San Diego Tribune.

That said, though, it still doesn’t seem fair to accuse Davies & Co. of sexism or favoritism, not with this broad a mix of disciplines and aesthetic viewpoints. Local art museums have historically ignored local artists, and this exhibition, which Davies promises won’t be the last of its kind at La Jolla, is certainly an important start--and at a time when more San Diego artists have more to show and say for themselves than ever. Perhaps future San Diego shows could focus exclusively on female artists, or on local art history, but better to see this show before condemning it.

ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE: California boasts the largest number of artists of any state in the Union, said the California Arts Council. But most of them can’t make a living at their disciplines. That’s reason enough for the council’s “Artist in Residence” program, which each year matches artists with nonprofit sponsors and employs the artists for 20 hours a week, at $1,200 per month, in schools, social institutions or in their communities --for three to nine months.

One of the problems of the program, however, has been the lack of artist awareness and know-how in applying for the work. So on Thursday between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. at the Community Concourse, 202 C St. (North Terrace Room), the Arts Council is holding a workshop on how to apply. Artists and potential sponsors are invited to attend.

BOARD-DOM: The 1985 officers of the Old Globe Theatre have been selected, and so have eight new board members. Dixie Unruh of La Jolla was named president. Also chosen: Eugene Trepte, executive vice president; J. Dallas Clark, vice president, development; Richard Meads, vice president, marketing and public relations; James F. Mulvaney, vice president, capital campaign; Evelyn Truitt, vice president, corporate plan; Donald Tartre, treasurer, and Charles Deane, secretary.

The Globe’s new board members (elected to three-year terms by mail ballot of theater members) are La Jollan Katy Dessent, Bank of America senior vice president Larry Hartwig, artist Nancy Kay, insurance executive Oscar Padilla, Integrated Software Systems founder-president Peter Preuss, investment executive Jeanne Rivkin, E.F. Hutton senior account executive Harold B. Williams and La Jollan Carolyn Yorston. Among those stepping down from the board are former chairman J. Stacey Sullivan Jr., now counsel to the board president; former president James S. Milch, and Rita Bronowski.

Meanwhile, Padres president Ballard Smith, who chairs the San Diego Symphony’s $6.5-million fund-raising campaign for its Fox Theatre acquisition, has announced his “campaign cabinet.” David Copley, senior vice president of Copley Newspapers, will spearhead fund-raising efforts among local foundations. Attorney and USD law Prof. Hugh Friedman will focus on the government sector. Great American First Savings Bank chairman Gordon Luce will work the city’s businesses and corporations. Rancho Santa Fe National Bank chairman Paul I. Stevens will seek contributions from the symphony’s board of directors. And Dorene Whitney will orchestrate the symphony’s Nov. 2 opening gala concert at the Fox.

ARTBEATS: Symphony music director David Atherton will announce the programming for the 1985-86 season--the orchestra’s first at the Fox--tonight . . . Legendary jazz pianist Dave Brubeck is set for a Feb. 1 concert at the Fox Theatre, part of a 10-city series. Opening act will be local jazzmen Hollis Gentry and the Fatburger Band . . . The show of Nine Chicano Artists, now at the Maple Gallery, 2400 Kettner Blvd., has been extended through Feb. 23 . . . Thursday begins the exclusive National Public Radio adaptation of the “Star Wars” saga, 7 p.m. on KPBS-FM (89). Voices featured in the radio series are those of Anthony Daniels and Mark Hamill, who originated the robot C-3PO and Luke Skywalker, respectively, in the film version.