Gala at Getty : Backers of Arts Park Celebrate Design Choices

The Cultural Foundation chose a fitting site for its “A Night of Nights.”

Foundation officials and supporters, who have dedicated themselves to building a cultural center in Sepulveda Basin, gathered Saturday at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Malibu for a celebration amid the type of artistic grandeur they are struggling to create in the San Fernando Valley.

The event was sparked by Friday’s unveiling of architectural models for the proposed 60-acre, $50-million Arts Park L.A. The models--including a theater, museum, art workshops and an open-air amphitheater--were selected from hundreds of entries during a lengthy design competition.

Winners Shown Off

The winners were shown off Saturday evening.

Limousines began arriving at the Getty shortly before dusk. Guests in formal attire entered the museum, patterned after a Roman villa, through the outer courtyard as young people in period costumes danced about the grounds, playing violins and flutes and “welcoming everybody to Rome.”

Large color pictures of the models were displayed at one end of the inner courtyard, accompanied by the haunting music of a woman playing Tibetan “singing bowls.”

The flagship of the proposed Arts Park is an avant-garde theater designed by the Morphosis firm of Santa Monica. Housing separate 1,800- and 500-seat theaters, the 10-acre structure is largely subterranean but juts above ground in grids, fins, elevated walkways and “thrusting circulation bars.”

Passers-by offered a wide range of comments on the design.

‘Money’s Worth’

“Do you think we got our money’s worth?” asked one man.

“I sure do,” replied another.

“I think it’s beautiful,” said a woman.

“Looks like what Indiana Jones didn’t want to use,” said a man.

The event also gave foundation officials a chance to entertain a number of large corporations, including Rockwell International, GTE California and Great Western Financial Corp.--the types of companies the foundation must woo to raise large donations needed for construction of the project.

The Milken Family Foundation, headed by “junk bond king” Michael Milken, bought a $5,000 table at the dinner.

Milken became one of the richest men in America by pioneering the high-yield “junk bond” market, but was recently indicted for securities fraud. A Valley native, Milken gave $5 million to help finance the Bernard Milken Jewish Community Campus, named after his late father, in Canoga Park and has a long record of charitable contributions.

Milken himself did not attend the dinner, but Dodo Meyer, the foundation’s chairman of the board, said the Milken Family Foundation was “very interested” in Arts Park. She said, however, the foundation is not focusing only on major donors.

“We’re looking for the $1, $5, $25 donations. We want all people involved,” she said. “It’s like the political strategy--get a buck from somebody and you have his vote.”

Almost as important as potential donors were the guests of honor Saturday, among them Richard Koshalek, director of the Museum of Contemporary Art, and Steven Lavine, president of CalArts in Valencia. The support of such major figures in Los Angeles’ art world could help the foundation’s efforts.

The Cultural Foundation--made up of Valley businessmen and art denizens--has spent eight years in its quest to build Arts Park. The organization has plans to build a cultural facility in Warner Park as well.