More County Arts Groups Due for Smaller Bits of Aid

Despite a 50% increase in California Arts Council support recommended this week for arts groups in Orange County, proportional funding for arts groups statewide actually decreased by 10% this year, causing some local organizers to bemoan Sacramento’s parsimony.

In figures announced Thursday, the council’s advisory panels recommended a total of $324,600 in subsidies for 17 Orange County arts organizations--an increase over the $217,765 allocated last year to 11 local groups. The recommendations are expected to be approved by the council, whose 11 members are appointed by Gov. George Deukmejian, Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco) and the state Senate Rules Committee, when it meets in Sacramento Aug. 25.

But while Orange County’s overall share of state arts subsidies is projected to increase, proportional funding for individual groups has decreased, according to the council’s organizational grants program manager, Tere Romo.

Through the council’s complicated formulas, funding for local groups is determined by the size of their budgets, by evaluations of their artistic and institutional integrity and by evaluations of their efforts to reach minority communities. But the ultimate size of the grants depends on the funds provided for the council in the state budget.

The council’s grant budget--$3.5 million--was not increased in 1988-89, Romo said, while both the number of applicants and their evaluated quality increased.

As a result, she said, every group this year received 10% less than what it would have last year. That means top-rated groups (those that receive a 4 on the council’s 4-point scale)--would each receive 68% of the funding for which they are eligible, down from 78% in 1987-88. As recently as 1984-85, Romo said, the Arts Council budget allowed top-ranked groups to receive 100% of their grant requests.

“I’m sorry for the community,” said Martin Weil, Opera Pacific’s managing director. The opera company, which stages three productions a year at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, was recommended for $32,630 in arts council grants, but would have received $37,500 had funding levels remained the same as last year.

The figure, based on the company’s ranking of 3, entitles it to 20% of what it is eligible to apply for.

“That’s even lower than I anticipated,” Weil said. “I anticipated 29%” of the request. “It’s a very low number.”

Said Paul Piazza, director of Santa Ana’s Bowers Museum: “Unfortunately, California isn’t one of the most supportive states for the arts. In fact, it’s one of the least supportive states.”

The Bowers, with a 3 rating, was recommended for $10,000 of the $50,000 it was eligible to receive.

“I guess it’s going to take a little time for people to realize that the arts are important and do matter for the state of California. We’re pleased we received money, but it’s a shame we couldn’t receive more. I’m disappointed,” he said.

Times staff writers Cathy Curtis, Jan Herman, Allan Jalon and Chris Pasles contributed to this story.