Director of Valley Arts Foundation Quits; Health Cited

The executive director of the San Fernando Valley Cultural Foundation has gone on indefinite leave because of illness, a spokeswoman for the organization said.

Executive Director Madeleine Landry is undergoing testing to identify an unexplained illness, said foundation Development Director Linda Kinnee.

The foundation, a nonprofit corporation formed in 1981, is attempting to raise as much as $70 million to build two arts complexes, one in Sepulveda Basin, the other in Warner Center.

Landry’s departure, effective Oct. 1, is the latest of several leadership changes that have occurred since the fund-raising campaign began.

Chairman Quit

Byron C. Campbell resigned as foundation chairman six weeks ago. Campbell, former publisher of the Daily News newspaper, retained his post with the foundation for more than a year after his dismissal from the Daily News, but eventually stepped down to allow himself more time to pursue new career interests.

Doris (Dodo) Meyer, longtime head of Mayor Tom Bradley’s Valley office, replaced Campbell as chairman.

Landry will not be immediately replaced, foundation spokeswoman Barbara Balik said.

“We’re hoping that she’ll come back,” Balik said. In the meantime, others in the foundation’s office will share duties, she said.

“Dodo Meyer is a real hands-on chairman,” Balik said. “I am positive that she is not about to let anything fall through the cracks.”

Balik said a new committee has been formed to examine the staffing needs of the foundation over the next several years.

Landry, 44, assumed the foundation’s new top position of executive director in July, 1986, in a reorganization after the resignation of the organization’s general manager, Luke Bandle. Before her appointment, Landry was a member of the foundation board of directors.

L.A. Cultural Commissioner

Landry also is a member of the Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Commission and is the wife of Edward Landry, a Los Angeles lawyer and the foundation’s legal adviser.

During her tenure as executive director, the foundation expanded its staff, purchased a large computer system and opened an art gallery. It also launched a six-month campaign to raise $1 million for operating expenses. That campaign was extended early this summer when it fell short of its goal. Landry had said that a long-delayed capital campaign would begin this year.

The foundation suffered another setback this summer when its Pacific festival drew crowds of only about 5,000.