Arts Committee Elects a New Slate of Officers

The ad hoc Committee for an Orange County Arts Council has elected a new slate of officers as it continues to work slowly to form a countywide arts council.

Joe Felz, director of the Fullerton Museum Center, replaces Charles Desmarais, director of the Laguna Art Museum, as committee chairman, Desmarais said. Michael Logue, outgoing executive director of Poets Reading Inc., replaces Kathleen Costello, associate development director of the Newport Harbor Art Museum, as secretary.

Bonnie Brittain Hall, associate director of the Laguna Art Museum, will remain as vice chairwoman, and Amy S. Aspell, director of the Irvine Fine Arts Center, will stay on as treasurer.

Desmarais, who held the chairmanship since the committee’s 1989 formation, said he is stepping down to “balance up” the “inordinate contribution” to the committee the Laguna Art Museum has made with his and Hall’s participation.

The committee, which has been working on a structure for the council with county staff members, recently turned back a $12,500 technical assistance grant from the California Arts Council because progress had slowed in recent months. A CAC official said the money still is being held for the group, but the committee must advise the CAC by early September of how it plans to use the grant or risk losing it.

“Until a timetable emerges for how a council will be formed, we don’t feel confident in a reapplying for any funds,” Hall said.

Desmarais has said committee members and county officials have a “sizable difference in perception” about what sort of arts council should be formed and to what extent the Orange County Board of Supervisors should be involved.

Recently, the committee submitted its response to a list of recommendations on those issues drafted by county staff, said Bob Wingard, director of administration for the county’s Environmental Management Agency. Neither Wingard nor Desmarais would disclose any details about the recommendations or the responses.