Guilds’ Gifts to Arts Center Celebrated

The Orange County Performing Arts Center will be getting donations of $590,000, raised by the Guilds, a 4,000-member support group, it was announced at Celebration ‘87, a fashion show and luncheon. The money was raised at benefits held by the Guilds’ 43 chapters during the 1986-87 fiscal year, said JoAnn Boswell, outgoing chairwoman of the Guilds board.

The Celebration Friday at the Irvine Hilton drew 800 members and guests.

“The main object “is to get everyone together, thank them, congratulate them and celebrate the successful year,” event chairwoman Barbara Steinberg said.

Among those congratulating the membership at the annual event was Thomas R. Kendrick, Performing Arts Center president and chief operating officer, who urged guild members not to relax their efforts now that the “Center is a reality.”

“You are the greatest source of the Center’s strength,” he said. “You’ve been with us early and you’ve been with us late. . . . We need you to stay with us. We have the opportunity to create a nationally ranked Performing Arts Center. We owe it to the county and to future generations to meet that challenge.”

Boswell thanked her board of directors and introduced the new board, including chairwoman Ciel Woodman.

Woodman, an interior designer, said she viewed her new commitment as a full-time job. She paid tribute to Georgia Spooner and other early chairmen, who “from the very beginning did such a fantastic job of organization that you can walk into the job and have room to develop.”

At the Friday event, guests, who had paid $36 per person, savored cream of asparagus soup, mandarin chicken salad with ginger dressing and apple strudel with whipped cream.

The fashion show featured apparel from shops at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa. Bonnie Page coordinated and narrated the show, which highlighted fashions ranging from soft, feminine summer whites to dazzling ball gowns.

In keeping with the event’s color scheme, Boswell, Woodman and Steinberg wore black and white outfits.

Members and guests carrying out the theme included Pat Strehlow in a black-banded white hat and a two-piece Italian knit--a black skirt topped by a white-edged top.

Carolyn Rose wore a three-piece suit by Gilbert Basson with contrasting black blouse and white crepe skirt and unstructured jacket.

And many guests did a double take at Raya Jaffee’s strapless black and white Yves Saint Laurent sheath, which she had topped with a broad-brimmed hat. Guests also saw the same stunning ensemble in the fashion show.

Assisting Woodman as board members of the Guilds will be Shari Esayian, Thelma Friedel, Gay Krpan and Fiona Petersen. Others members include Judy Stapp, Elaine Delman, Boswell, Julie Polhemus, Teri Kennady, Jane Solow, Strehlow, Janice Johnson, Linda Hughes, Paula Raelson and Vesta Curry.

New chairmen of the 10 guilds making up the support group are Jan Martens, Central County; Mar-Mary Buss, Huntington Harbour; Cassandra Gumpert, Irvine; Jennifer Yelland, Laguna; Marjorie Cooling and Beverly White, Newport Harbor; Sarah Alevizon, North Central; Evelyn Canedy, North County; Dorothy Frieden, South Coast County; Marlene Short, South East County, and Irene Hajek, West County.

The Laguna Art Museum completed a month of intimate benefit party-giving--a series of 14 dinners--with “High Tea and High Spirits” on Sunday afternoon.

Fifty museum supporters donated $150 each to attend the tea and hear an “intuitive” speak at the Ritz-Carlton in Laguna Niguel.

Proceeds from the series are expected to be in the $35,000-to-$40,000 range, said Claudette Shaw, museum development chairwoman.

Tea included an array of sandwiches, scones, pastries and sherry. Those who attended received a signed, limited edition, fine arts poster by Scott Moore--”Dan Passo, Penguin Cafe, 1983”--a graphite on paper. The original was recently added to Laguna Art Museum’s collection.

Museum director Dr. William Otton opened the program by praising a “budget goal met,” and Claudette Shaw thanked Ritz-Carlton general manager Henry Schielein for being host for the tea.

Shaw introduced Linda McCallum, whom she described as “an intuitive who points out practical applications for intuitive powers.”

McCallum, who lives in Los Angeles, said she had “combined psychology with metaphysics in 17 years of study.”

She told guests to “get in touch with your inner abilities, let go of the concept of yourself as victim.”

Shaw said she’d scheduled a speaker because she thought the museum needed to offer “something more than tea for $150.”

Thanking Norma Glover for conducting the tea, Shaw expressed delight with “the way the whole (May dinner) series went. We’ll do it again next year, and it should be even more successful, because we won’t be working with such a short lead time. We only began this year’s planning in January.”