Music Center Figure Named by Wilson to Head Arts Council

Gov. Pete Wilson on Monday named an influential Southern California cultural figure as executive director of the California Arts Council, a move that drew praise from across the spectrum of the local arts community and capped a major revision of the council’s membership.

The new director is Joanne C. Kozberg, 47, a longtime board member of the Music Center of Los Angeles County. A Beverly Hills Republican, Kozberg is already co-vice chair of the council, a state agency that awards more than $13 million in grants annually to artists and arts organizations.

Kozberg “brings a proven dedication to the arts, a background in public policy, and a history of community volunteerism,” said Wilson. From 1984 to 1988, Kozberg served as then-Sen. Wilson’s senior policy adviser on the arts, entertainment industry and transportation.

She will assume the new post in mid-September. She plans to keep her Beverly Hills home and find another residence in Sacramento, near the council’s offices.

Wilson also named five new council members: Iris R. Dart of Pebble Beach, who wrote the book “Beaches,” which was made into a film; Edward C. Cazier Jr. of Los Angeles, senior partner of the law firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius; James L. Loper of Pasadena, executive director of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and former KCET chief; Peter B. Bedford of Lafayette, president of a real estate company and founder of a San Francisco art gallery, and David C. Lizarraga of Covina, president of the East Los Angeles Community Union. Lizarraga, a Latino, is the only minority appointment.

The five appointees, who require Senate confirmation, replace one vacancy left by a resignation, and four council members nominated by then-Gov. George Deukmejian days before he left office. They would serve four-year, essentially volunteer posts.

Kozberg, who does not require confirmation, will be paid $79,956 annually. She has served on the Music Center Board of Governors since 1980, is a member and former president of The Blue Ribbon, the Music Center’s chief fund-raising group, and is vice chair of a fund-raising committee for the proposed Walt Disney Concert Hall.

She won praise from arts community leaders for her expertise and fairness. Despite her long association with one of Los Angeles’ biggest arts organizations, observers did not worry that the council would favor larger, more established cultural institutions under her leadership.

“She’ll be a good advocate for the whole arts community,” said Alma Robinson, executive director of California Lawyers for the Arts, a San Francisco-based organization that helps independent artists and emerging arts groups.

Robinson recently served with Kozberg on a council committee seeking ways to better distribute council funds. “I was really very impressed with her breadth of understanding of the entire field.”

Kozberg, originally a Deukmejian appointee who chaired the arts council in 1989 and 1990, said: “It is terribly important to support all arts organizations, regardless of size.”

One goal, she said, will be to balance increasing demand with diminishing dollars. This year the council was hit with a 6.6% budget cut, amounting to $1.13 million.