VENTURA : Arts Director to Take Job in Spokane

Maureen Davidson, executive director of the Ventura Arts Council through three years of growth and occasional controversy, has resigned to take a job out of state.

Davidson, whose last day of work will be June 15, said she will start July 1 as director of the Spokane Art School in Washington state. But the changing nature of her job here, she said, also played a role in her decision.

“Before, it was a fairly freewheeling ‘Hey, kids, let’s put on a show’ kind of attitude,” she said. “It’s just becoming a more administrative position. I think it’s time for somebody who’s better at dealing with bureaucracy than I am.”

Davidson said that during the last year, Ventura city officials have taken an increased role in the planning and administration of local arts programs.

The arts council was founded 10 years ago as a private, nonprofit organization to promote the development of the arts in Ventura. Under Davidson since September, 1987, it grew to carry a $180,000 annual budget, including $81,000 in city underwriting. Since Davidson’s arrival, the council has expanded arts education programs and opened an ongoing exhibit space at the Momentum Gallery in the downtown Livery building.

One of those exhibits--a hastily arranged collection of artists’ responses to the Persian Gulf War--prompted the resignation of one arts council board member in January.

But Davidson and arts council President Patricia Olney said controversy wasn’t a factor in the resignation. “We just gave her some kudos, and all told her how much we’re going to miss her,” Olney said. Davidson said she would assist in the search for a successor.