Master Chorale Also Cited : Arts Committee Honors Companies for Support

Ten Orange County companies, including several developers, an architectural firm and a vitamin manufacturer, were honored by the Orange County Business Committee for the Arts--the local corporate community’s support organization--in ceremonies Sunday in Newport Beach.

Also honored by the committee was the Master Chorale of Orange County, cited for its efforts to involve the business community in its affairs.

Since 1982, the committee has given Business in the Arts Awards for outstanding art support by local companies, whose backing can be include personnel and other administrative assistance, as well as cash grants.

Five of Sunday’s winners, all widely known for their arts support, had won the award in the past: the Fluor Corp., the Irvine Co., the Mission Viejo Co., Pacific Mutual Life Insurance and C.J. Segerstrom & Sons.

First-time winners were:

- The Fieldstone Co., Newport Beach, a residential developer, for its support of the South Coast Repertory Theatre’s endowment fund and stage productions, including underwriting the U.S. premiere of “The Gigli Concert” last year.

- The Orange County Register, Santa Ana, for its arts coverage and grants and media assistance to various arts organizations and for its traveling photographic exhibits.

- Rutan & Tucker, a Costa Mesa-based law firm, for legal assistance to arts groups and for donations to several arts campaigns and to public station KOCE-TV.

- Stewart Woodard & Associates, Costa Mesa, an architectural firm, for donated services to the South Coast Repertory, fund-raising for Newport Harbor Art Museum’s “The Critical Edge” show and for helping to form a Joffrey Ballet support group.

- VitaTech International Inc., a vitamin manufacturer in Tustin, for creating the first permanent scholarship endowment in the arts at UC Irvine and for contributions to the Laguna Beach Museum of Art’s expansion programs.

The Master Chorale of Orange County, a Costa Mesa-based performing group, was given the committee’s 1985 Arts Award.

The organization was cited for establishing a “closer partnership” with businesses, including the expanded involvement of business leaders on the chorale’s board of directors and other panels.

Held at the Newport Harbor Art Museum, Sunday’s awards ceremonies featured the presentation of hand-colored monotypes to each awardee. The monotypes, created by Ray Jacob of the Laguna Beach College of Art, depict the San Juan Capistrano Regional Library complex.

The Orange County Business Committee for the Arts, based in Costa Mesa, was founded in 1981 as a means to expand business support in the arts. The chairman is David Tappan Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of the Fluor Corp.