Arts Community Facing 6 Issues

Six major issues facing the Orange County arts community have been identified by consultants hired by the Orange County Arts Alliance as part of a five-month study.

Seeking public input, consultants Elizabeth Kennedy and David Lutz made a preliminary report on those issues to a small audience Monday at the Bowers Museum Conference Room in Santa Ana. The issues, which arose from consultations with focus groups and individual interviews, are: arts education, advocacy for the arts, the needs of individual artists, the needs of small and emerging organizations, funding for the arts, and municipal support of the arts.

The audience of about a dozen individual artists and representatives of several community arts organizations and companies agreed that the issues were pertinent but suggested several others, including creation of employment opportunities for artists, a master calendar of countywide arts events, and a director of venues and services available to artists.

Kennedy and Lutz said the suggestions would be taken into consideration for the recommendations that they will make to the alliance’s board of directors on May 2. Pending board approval, this report will be made available to the public, tentatively in early June.

The alliance, founded in 1980 by the Board of Supervisors, suspended operations in January under criticism from the California Arts Council and member organizations about its lack of focus and direction. A 20-member advisory panel was established to study the alliance’s future as a planning and service organization.