BOWERS’ NEW DIRECTOR SETS OPTIMISTIC COURSE

The new director of Santa Ana’s Bowers Museum, Paul Piazza, is heading a municipal-owned institution that has had more than its share of organizational squabbles, scuttled expansion plans, misfired fund drives and high staff turnover.

But Piazza, the third person in five years to hold the top staff post at Bowers, was the last word in administrative optimism in a recent interview in his office at the 50-year-old, Spanish Colonial-style museum.

“I know there have been disputes, I know that some people weren’t too happy. But we shouldn’t dwell on the past. This museum has immense potential, and all the signs of a new momentum are there,” said Piazza, 45, former director of the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center who took over the Santa Ana post on Jan. 5.

With a six-month search for a new director over, Bowers supporters say they can now get on with the business of fund raising and expansion. Their aim, they say, is to turn Santa Ana’s modest-size museum into a regional center devoted to the cultural histories of Western Hemisphere and Pacific Rim areas.

As chairman Hector R. Godinez of Bowers’ board of governors put it, it was Piazza’s reputation as an aggressive fund-raiser, facilities planner and “people communicator” that led to the choice of Piazza last fall.

Even before Piazza arrived, Bowers had taken sweeping steps trying to change the museum’s image--which consultants said is that of a slow-moving and rather lackluster institution.

Until last summer, Bowers was administered by a city-appointed, residents-only panel, while fiscal and art donations were supervised by a volunteer-organized foundation. Factional clashes over programs and administration peaked in early 1982, when the director, Reilly Rhodes, quit under fire and a city-approved $6-million building expansion plan was shelved.

But last August, in a city-mandated move aimed at ending disputes, a nine-member Bowers board was created to run all museum functions, including overseeing collections and raising private funds. For the first time, the board was opened to non-Santa Ana residents.

Also, the City Council endorsed a new building plan to expand the 24,000-square-foot museum by 19,000 square feet and add a 350-seat multipurpose hall as well as new galleries. Because of the lack of private support for the project, the council agreed to finance the $8.8-million construction with tax monies generated under the city’s redevelopment program.

The city, however, has yet to announce a construction start for the expansion, which is being designed by Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates. And a proposed later phase, developing a multi-facility “museum district” around Bowers, hasn’t gone beyond the idea stage.

Still, the promise of expansion in facilities and programs was enough to attract him to Santa Ana, said Piazza, who has also been director of the Tucson Museum of Art and assistant director of the Hudson River Museum of Yonkers, N.Y.

Another big lure was the better pay. Neither Piazza nor Godinez would disclose the new director’s annual salary, but sources said Piazza is being paid about $80,000, contrasted with the $52,0000 paid the previous Bowers director, William Lee. (According to Godinez, one reason for Piazza’s higher pay was because the Bowers director is now hired by the museum’s nonprofit corporation and is no longer subject to salary limits under traditional city employee policies.)

Building up Bowers’ cultural arts exhibitions, of course, is one of his chief tasks, Piazza said. “The historical and anthropological have always been the (Bowers) exhibiting focus. Some exhibitions may overlap with other museums, but basically, Bowers has always had its special niche.”

Piazza said he also foresees presenting more performances, such as small-scale jazz concerts, in addition to extending the museum’s school visits and other countywide educational programs.

He added that he wants to strengthen the ethnic communities program at Bowers as well, although he acknowledged that the program has to be revamped since most of the original ethnic councils are now inactive or have left to form a new cultural foundation.

The most pressing problem, Piazza said, remains that of raising money for a museum that has the least impressive donor record of any large arts organization in Orange County.

Piazza’s experience in Colorado was quite different. Like the Newport Harbor Art Museum and Laguna Art Museum in Orange County, the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center has built up a regular corps of corporate givers, in addition to being a frequent recipient of federal operating and exhibition grants.

During his seven-year stay there, Piazza also headed a separate campaign that raised $1.2 million in private funds for the full renovation of the center’s 450-seat performing arts facility.

Bowers, however, has built up no such regular corporate backing, nor has it obtained any federal grants. Moreover, Bowers still needs city support to stay in operation. This year’s subsidy is $1 million in an overall budget of $1.5 million.

And the museum’s last campaign--a much-heralded $17-million drive for construction, endowment and program monies--was called off in 1982. Officials said the effort had failed to attract major corporate donors, due to the nationwide recession at that time and the competition from other arts campaigns.

The new Bowers board doesn’t plan to try another fund drive for some time. Nevertheless, Piazza believes that Bowers has the potential to catch up financially. He and other Bowers officials argue that corporate donors are now more likely to give to Bowers, now that the museum--while still owned by the city--is being operated by a community corporation.

“Orange County is known for its great affluence. Now, thanks to the Performing Arts Center and others, this county is becoming known for cultural growth as well. It is our belief that there are still many untapped sources (for arts donations) in this region,” Piazza said.

“But we have to present the Bowers story better, more forcefully,” he added. “We have to show them that Bowers--this time--is truly ready for the big (fund-raising) effort.”