Arts Center Seeks Direction in Wake of Blaze

The future of the Westside Arts Center is in jeopardy. The nonprofit community facility that provides art programs for children lost its Santa Monica offices in an arson fire two weeks ago, forcing the remainder of the summer classes to be held outside while center administrators try to figure out what they will do in the fall.

“We’re still in the shock stage,” said Carlyn Clark, the center’s executive director. “We’re not going to be able to fix it. The space is completely uninhabitable and irreparable.”

The fire destroyed two bungalows at McKinley School, where the center rents space from the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District. Fire Department arson investigator Lyle Lentz estimated damage at $50,000 to the buildings and $25,000 to the contents.

Volunteers--many of whom have children enrolled in the center’s programs--have been sorting through the wreckage, trying to salvage a few supplies, but, according to Clark, it’s been almost a complete loss. She said the center is in need of art supplies of all types: paint, paper, scissors, watercolors, brushes and pens. Also destroyed were the center’s office supplies, including a computer and typewriter.

Founded in 1981, the Westside Arts Center serves more than 300 children weekly, with free programs for low-income children as well as traditional courses in drawing and painting.

A fund-raiser for the center might be in the future, but Clark says the administrators haven’t been able to think that far ahead: “We’re taking one baby step at a time.”

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December’s inaugural “Art Against AIDS” auction raised $1.5 million for the American Foundation for AIDS Research (AMFAR) and AIDS Project Los Angeles, with proceeds coming from an exhibition at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood and a dinner at the home of Ted and Susie Field. Now AMFAR is finishing its art campaign with a final auction to be held next weekend at Butterfield & Butterfield in Los Angeles.

A silent auction of more than 120 works will be held from 7 to 9:30 p.m. Thursday, with a preview reception open to the public. The exhibition will continue from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.

Tickets ($50 to $250) are on sale for Sunday night’s festivities, which include cocktails, a buffet and a final chance to bid in the silent auction. At 7 p.m., a live auction will commence with auctioneer Don May of Butterfield & Butterfield and celebrity auctioneers such as Carol Kane and Elizabeth Montgomery.

Ann Flower, spokeswoman for the Art Against AIDS Los Angeles auction, said several new pieces have been added for the evening, including works by Laddie John Dill, Peter Shire, Gronk, the Starn Twins, Richard Diebenkorn, Carlos Almaraz and David Hockney, who has donated a new painting estimated at $60,000.

The public is invited to view the exhibit all weekend. Tax-deductible tickets for the Sunday night event are available by calling AMFAR at (213) 857-5900.

Butterfield & Butterfield Auctioneers, 7601 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles. Queries to Ann Flower at AMFAR: (213) 857-5900.

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The Craft and Folk Art Museum, closed since June when its 1920s-style home on Wilshire Boulevard fell to the wrecking ball, has scheduled its reopening with an inaugural gala Nov. 21.

The museum’s new facility, a 21-story building that will also contain commercial space and condominiums, will be completed at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Curson Avenue in 1992. Until then, the museum’s permanent collection will be on display at the May Co. on Wilshire at Fairfax Avenue. More than 7,000 square feet on the fourth floor will house the museum, with necessary renovations underwritten by the department store.

The opening gala will also coincide with the May Co.’s 50th anniversary and will be a major feature show of the museum’s permanent collection, entitled “Hands On: Objects Crafted in Our Time.” Arrangements for the evening are in the planning stages.

Capital for the $12-million renovation is being raised through the museum’s Resource Fund. Recent gifts of $100,000 from the Times Mirror Foundation and $50,000 from Security Pacific National Bank have brought the total to $5,995,500, 18 months into the fund’s five-year plan.

After Nov. 21, the Craft and Folk Art Museum will be open five days a week, with free validated parking in the May Co. parking lot. Further details on who will chair the opening gala and the name of the architect hired to renovate the museum space will be announced later this month.