Rohrabacher’s Supporters Remain True Amid Arts Fight

Financial supporters of an Orange County congressman who has become a controversial opponent of federal support for the arts say they disagree with his position but will continue to support him, because they agree with most of his other stands.

Several arts patrons who also support Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Lomita) said they had been unaware that he had led an effort in Congress to restrict federal funding of artwork. But more than half a dozen of these contributors also said his position on the arts would not affect their future support.

“Frankly, I don’t think the government should support” the arts, said Peter G. Muth of Santa Ana, a Rohrabacher contributor who is a major supporter of the Orange County Performing Arts Center, Pacific Symphony and Opera Pacific.

Arts patronage “should be voluntary,” Muth said. “If (Rohrabacher) says don’tspend money on the arts, I’m with him. I feel very strongly that that should be voluntary.”

A self-described “free-enterpriser,” Muth said “the government is involved in too damned many things already.”

Newport Beach investor Clifford S. Heinz, whose family supports the Center, South Coast Repertory, Opera Pacific and both the Newport Harbor and Laguna Art museums, agreed.

“I like the least amount of government interference with anything,” he said. “When the federal government supplies something, they take something away at the same time.”

Heinz said he has no problem with Rohrabacher’s support for an amendment introduced by Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.), which the Senate passed, that would specifically restrict NEA funding of artworks considered sexually explicit or thought to denigrate religion. The amendment to an appropriations bill is being debated by a conference committee of the House and Senate.

“When a body can’t police themselves,” Heinz said, “I don’t mind the government giving them help.”

Controversy over federal funding has been set off by objections to photography exhibitions underwritten in part by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts. One in North Carolina, by Andres Serrano, included a photograph of a plastic crucifix submerged in the artist’s urine. Another exhibition, scheduled for Corcoran Gallery in Washington but later canceled, included homoerotic photos by the late Robert Mapplethorpe.

Rohrabacher, a first-term congressman who was a speech writer for former President Ronald Reagan, has said he opposes federal support for the arts and has attracted national attention for his support of the Helms amendment.

Rohrabacher said this week that his opposition to federal funding in general and his support for restricting NEA grants had generated criticism from constituents, although not from those identifying themselves as campaign contributors and arts supporters.

Rohrabacher’s district includes parts of Long Beach, where arts activists have generally been more outspoken in their criticism of the congressman’s positions. But Rohrabacher’s financial backers there do not agree.

“I support the fine congressman,” said James Lockington, who contributes to the Long Beach Civic Light Opera and the Public Corporation for the Arts, the local arts council.

Lockington echoed Rohrabacher’s feeling that other issues on the national agenda, such as health care, should come before the arts when it comes to federal support.

Rohrabacher has said he would be hard put to spend federal money on the arts while people are in need of health care, though he has not said the federal government should pay more for health care than it already does.

Lockington said Rohrabacher’s support for the Helms amendment does not bother him.

“I’m not a great believer in censorship,” he said, “but there is a point when it goes beyond bad taste.”

Serrano’s supporters said the use of the plastic crucifix in his photograph is a protest against exploitation of religious values.

Serrano, who was raised a Roman Catholic, has said the image “could mean different things to different people. I find it to be a very comforting and spiritual image. I find it visually very much in keeping with the traditional image of Christ.”

Daphne Munzer, who with her husband contributes to the Long Beach Museum of Art and the Public Corporation for the Arts, said she favors federal arts support and had not been aware of Rohrabacher’s opposition.

However, she said his stand would not affect her future support for the congressman.

Rohrabacher’s campaign contributors from the arts and entertainment industry, while more critical of the congressman’s position, echoed this sentiment. Jeff Segal, vice president of creative affairs for Hanna-Barbera Productions in Los Angeles, said his support for Rohrabacher, a longtime friend, is “not in any way based upon his position on the arts.”

While Segal said he might consider Rohrabacher’s position on the arts in determining future support, it is the congressman’s overall philosophical position and personal relationship that are the most critical factors.

Segal is less comfortable with Rohrabacher’s support for the Helms amendment.

“I’m opposed in principle to censorship, to a U.S. senator incorporating in law a certain perspective,” he said. “I’m very sensitive about people trying to mandate creative instincts in some fashion.”

A spokesman for Harry Evans Sloan, another longtime friend of Rohrabacher who is co-chairman of the board of New World Entertainment, said the film executive favors federal support of the arts.

However, the spokesman said no one issue would affect his future support.

Other Rohrabacher contributors from the entertainment industry--including Jack Valenti of the Motion Picture Assn. of America, Stanley Kaufman of Troma Pictures, Sammy Hagar of Van Halen and actress Stephanie Zimbalist--could not be reached for comment.

Rohrabacher is listed as a donor to the Long Beach Symphony, in the $250-to-$500 category. He said the donation was in the form of a tour of Washington that was auctioned off as a fund-raiser.

Times staff writer Allan Parachini contributed to this story.

CORCORAN STRUGGLES: Corcoran Gallery of Art tries to survive artist boycott. Page 18.

ARTS FUNDING DEAL: A compromise eliminates Sen. Jesse Helms’ restrictions. Part I.