County Council for the Arts Is Needed : * Actions in Costa Mesa, Garden Grove Point Up the Jerry-Built System Now in Use

When a representative from Orange County addressed the California Confederation of the Arts, the state’s largest arts advocacy organization, at its annual convention in Los Angeles recently, the appearance itself was evidence for the message. David Emmes, producing-artistic director of Costa Mesa’s South Coast Repertory theater, delivered a timely address on the need for a countywide arts council, so as to lend a stronger voice to the local arts community.

Amen. And the fact that Emmes’ address represented an about-face from an earlier decision not to accept an invitation to speak on “The Fight for Freedom of Expression” was eloquent testimony on the need for a better organized arts lobby in Orange County. Emmes had complained earlier that he had been given inadequate notice of the panel discussion and almost didn’t participate. The opportunity to address the most important assembly in California on an arts advocacy question surely would not have been lost on an alert county arts council, which could have coordinated the effort to bring Orange County’s arts funding wars to the attention of a larger audience.

Indeed, Orange County has been having a rough time of it of late. The Costa Mesa City Council’s approval last summer of arts-grant restrictions banning the use of city money for obscenity or religious or political activity cast Orange County in an unfavorable national light on the arts stage. That embarrassing chapter in county arts history itself might have been headed off if a county council had been in place to mobilize the region’s arts community.

Instead, Orange County had a jerry-built system for rescuing freedom of expression from the endangered species list. In Garden Grove, for example, the City Council took the view that Shakespeare was the equivalent of a foreign auto or high-tech electronics import, flooding the market and knocking out American products from competition. So it was left to an anonymous donor to give $10,000 to the Grove Shakespeare Festival, as well as a group of firefighters, a local hotel and small contributors, to keep alive Shakespeare for another day. A countywide arts council certainly could have helped spread and strengthen the safety net.

The Board of Supervisors, struggling to meet a wide range of needs, earlier this year ruled out substantial funding for a council. But it’s clear that somehow Orange County needs an organization to lobby for the arts and protect them from self-appointed censors.