Plans to Fund 20 Groups Recommended : Grants: The Newport Harbor Art Museum would take the deepest cut of any local institution under recommendations to the California Arts Council.

Twenty Orange County groups would receive 1990-91 state funding under recommendations released this week by the California Arts Council. At the same time, council staff has suggested a funding probation of sorts for the Newport Harbor Art Museum because of vacancies in top administrative and artistic posts.

All groups are recommended for two grant amounts in an effort to address the fact that more groups are seeking slices of an Organizational Support Program pie that has remained the same size, said Terezita Romo, the program’s manager.

Under one recommendation (Study One in accompanying chart), the Orange County groups would receive a total of $278,978. Under the other (Study Two), they would receive $270,733. The council is expected to approve one of the recommendations at regular meetings in Sacramento next week.

The council’s Organizational Support Program awards grants from two separate pots of money: one for small and mid-size groups with budgets under $1 million, the other for large groups with budgets of $1 million or more.

Typically, however, the smaller groups are harder hit by limited funds in the program’s total budget because there are many more of them. Large groups must meet more rigorous standards and requirements to qualify for grants.

This year, for instance, 623 small and mid-size groups are recommended for grants, contrasted with 564 last year. In contrast, 36 large groups are recommended for funding, only two more than last year. Grant budgets remained the same this year, however: $3.8 million for smaller groups and $3.1 million for larger ones.

Therefore, in order to “equalize the pain” of limited overall funds, the council requested a second plan, under which money for the two grant programs would be pooled. Money would then be distributed to groups in both categories in amounts that would be reduced “across the board . . . by the same percentage,” Romo said. In effect, money would be taken from the large-budget groups to provide modest increases in grant amounts to the smaller organizations.

Regardless of which recommendation is followed, five Orange County arts groups were recommended for larger grants than they received last year and eight were recommended for lesser amounts. (The remaining seven did not apply last year.)

The Newport Harbor Art Museum would take the deepest cut of any local institution and was recommended for “conditional funding” because of lowered ranks it received from council advisory panels.

The panels assign ranks on a scale of 1 to 4, the highest, after evaluating groups’ artistic and managerial strength and community outreach. Ranks, along with institutions’ budgets, determine grant size. Historically, only groups ranked 3- and above are funded. But in order to give some slack to the state’s most prominent, well-established groups, the council provides conditional funding for those that fail the mark.

For the Newport Harbor Art Museum, which was ranked 3- for artistic and managerial integrity and 2 for community outreach, that would mean a greatly reduced grant over last year’s--either $9,538 or $9,390, contrasted with $59,386 in 1989. The museum would also have to submit to council staff a quarterly update on its finances and art programs and be visited by council staff and a council member, among other measures, Romo said.

“The whole point of conditional funding is that the council wants the organization to have a year to bring its rank back up above a 3-,” Romo said.

Panelists judging the museum’s outreach efforts cited the loss of director Kevin E. Consey and chief curator Paul Schimmel before lowering its score from a 3+ to a 2. Neither position has been filled. Consey left nearly a year ago.

Panel comments made available this week stated that the lack of both leaders, and the fact that the museum is “in the middle of a building campaign” (now stalled until a new director is hired) robbed panelists of the “confidence that the proposed outreach plans would go forward.”

Other comments contributing to the equally dramatic drop in artistic and managerial rank from 4- to 3 stressed that the museum’s board and staff need broader ethnic representation.

A museum spokeswoman said no comment would be made until after next week’s council vote.

The San Jose Museum of Art, which was ranked a 3- and a 2, is the only other large-budget organization being recommended this year for conditional funding.

CALIFORNIA ARTS COUNCIL GRANT RECOMMENDATIONS

Last Year’s Organization Request + Study 1/Study 2 Grant Current ART Art Institute $19,810 0/0 n/a 2 of Southern California Irvine Fine $38,000 $2,280/$2,903 n/a 3- Arts Center Laguna Art $50,000 $6,750/$8,595 $14,000 3 Museum Newport $98,330 $9,538/$9,390 $59,386 3-/2 Harbor Art Museum Orange County $7,500 0/0 0 2 Center for Contemporary Art DANCE Regional $3,466 $1,000/$1,000 n/a 3 Dance America/ Pacific Assn.+++ Relampago $16,223 $2,190/$2,789 $1,416 3 del Cielo St. Joseph $20,000 $12,200/$12,415 $9,835 4 Ballet MUSIC Garden Grove $16,900 0/0 0 2+ Symphony Laguna Beach $20,000 $2,700/$3,438 $5,264 3 Chamber Music Society Master $30,000 $13,050/$13,752 $7,200 4- Chorale of Orange County Opera Pacific $131,200 $29,782/$25,059 $41,880 3/3- Pacific $30,000 $13,050/$13,752 $14,000 4- Chorale Pacific $144,515 $32,804/$27,602 $39,319 3/3- Symphony South Coast $28,000 $3,780/$4,813 $2,000 3 Symphony THEATER Fullerton $35,000 $2,100/$2,674 n/a 3- Civic Light Opera Grove $40,000 $5,400/$5,876 $11,200 3 Shakespeare Festival Laguna $37,88 0 $8,902/$10,129 3+ n/a Playhouse Orange County $20,000 $4,700/$5,348 n/a 3+ Black Actors Theatre South Coast $155,100 $105,002/$96,278 $81,950 4-/4- Repertory LITERATURE Laguna Poets $2,893 $1,000/$1,000 $1,000 3 Pacific $2,700 $1,000/$1,000 n/a 3 Writers Press * PRESENTERS AND OTHERS Historical $28,500 0/0 0 2+ and Cultural Foundation of O.C. Orange County $50,000 $21,750/$22,920 $32,500 4- Philharmonic Society COUNTY TOTALS $278,978/$270,733 **$321,950

RANKINGS++ Organization Last Year ART Art Institute n/a of Southern California Irvine Fine n/a Arts Center Laguna Art 3+ Museum Newport 4-/3+ Harbor Art Museum Orange County 2- Center for Contemporary Art DANCE Regional n/a Dance America/ Pacific Assn.+++ Relampago 3 del Cielo St. Joseph 4 Ballet MUSIC Garden Grove 2+ Symphony Laguna Beach 3+ Chamber Music Society Master 3 Chorale of Orange County Opera Pacific 3/3 Pacific 4- Chorale Pacific 3/3 Symphony South Coast 3- Symphony THEATER Fullerton n/a Civic Light Opera Grove 3+ Shakespeare Festival Laguna n/a Playhouse Orange County n/a Black Actors Theatre South Coast 4/3 Repertory LITERATURE Laguna Poets 3+ Pacific n/a Writers Press * PRESENTERS AND OTHERS Historical 2+ and Cultural Foundation of O.C. Orange County 4 Philharmonic Society COUNTY TOTALS

+Study 1 is recommended if the council follows its tradition of using separate budgets to distribute organizational grants to small and mid-size groups and large groups. Study 2 is recommended if the two budgets are lumped together to equalize the impact of a limited budget on small and mid-size groups, which greatly outnumber large groups.

++Rankings: Candidates for grants are ranked on a 1-4 scale, with a 4 at the top. Organizations with budgets of $1 million or more are given two scores and therefore greater scrutiny--because they receive the largest grants. The first rank on this chart is for artistic and managerial strength, the second is for community outreach.

+++ Formerly known as the Pacific Regional Ballet Assn.

* A UC Irvine literary group with an emphasis on publication

** 15 Orange County arts groups.

Source: California Arts Council