MALL’S ART MUSEUM: ENDURING?

Although construction has finally started on the expansion of the Laguna Beach Museum of Art’s main facility--closed since April 26--the museum’s board of directors has yet to decide whether to continue the “satellite museum” at the South Coast Plaza Mall beyond 1985.

As board president Ted Paulson put it this week, the issue is a matter of timing and resources: Whether the museum can operate two sites simultaneously once the main facility in Laguna Beach is reopened, which is now slated for May, 1986.

Last June, South Coast Plaza officials offered to extend the use of the rent-free site to January, 1987. Museum officials said at the time that they wanted to continue such a long-term arrangement.

“We’re pleased with the success of the mall operation, of course,” Paulson said. “But there’s a lot to mull over before a final decision (on extending). We don’t know whether we can stretch our staff over two places for that long.” He said the board will meet Aug. 29 on the mall issue.

At that same meeting, the board will consider approval of the 1985-86 budget, expected to be higher than last year’s $430,000, which was the museum’s largest budget to date.

Housed in a 3,000-square-foot ground-floor storefront, the satellite museum opened last Oct. 9 as one of the first art museum operations in a West Coast shopping center. (More than 34,000 people visited it during the first seven months.)

Meanwhile, additional plan reviews by the City of Laguna Beach and state Coastal Commission had delayed construction at the Laguna Beach facility, even though groundbreaking ceremonies were held in early June.

“There’s a million and one details to be cleared,” Paulson said. “It took longer than we anticipated, or else we would not have shut down (the main museum) so early. But we’re finally on our way--the demolition really got started this week.”

Museum officials said they were $60,000 away from meeting a $1.5-million target for structural and program expansions. Of that sum, $650,000 is for exhibition and educational programs and $850,000 for construction at the main site.

Under the $850,000 plan, the three-story, 54-year-old beach bluff landmark is being completely overhauled. The structure is being expanded from 9,000 to 15,000 square feet, including three new galleries, plus additional storage, library and administrative space.

A new two-story atrium entry is being built. Also, a sculpture being created by Michael Davis of Los Angeles, who won a $40,000 commission for the work, will be outside by the main entry.

When the main facility reopens next May, the museum will present the works of Elmer Bischoff. This retrospective, mounted by the Laguna Beach museum and underwritten with a National Endowment for the Arts grant, has already been presented at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Museum director William Otton and his staff are now housed in temporary quarters at the Great American First Savings Bank branch in downtown Laguna Beach. Most of the 800-piece permanent collection has been stored in various locales in Orange and Los Angeles counties.

Otton, who has three full-time and six part-time employees, said he expects to name a new curator of education by this fall. But, he added, the post of chief curator of exhibitions and collections --vacated last June when Robert McDonald left the post--is to remain vacant for the time being.

McDonald, former director of the Art Museum of Santa Cruz County and chief curator of the La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art, had served only 11 months in Laguna Beach before he was terminated as that museum’s chief curator.

In a recent interview, Otton said he had “made a mistake” in hiring a chief curator for the Laguna Beach museum at a time when facilities planning is still the museum’s “top priority” issue. He said the post would be better filled when the main facility is reopened.