Historical Foundation Mulls Over County Arts Council : Panel: The board takes a cautious look at the idea before considering lead role.

Snail-paced efforts to create a countywide arts council are still creeping forward as the Historical and Cultural Foundation of Orange County “very, very cautiously” mulls the possibility of administering such a council.

“We’re not at the stage where we’re considering taking on the role, (but) we will continue discussing it,” foundation executive director Tricia Goldman said Monday.

Orange County is one of only six counties in the state without an arts council. Such councils can apply for thousands of dollars in state and federal funds for redistribution to arts organizations.

Orange County had a council--the Orange County Arts Alliance--but it was disbanded in 1988 because of money and management troubles. County government never gave the council substantial funding. About a year ago, the Board of Supervisors further indicated it would not take a lead in supporting creation of a new local council, as has been urged by a local committee.

So the California Arts Council suggested that the Committee to Form an Orange County Arts Council approach the Historical and Cultural Foundation. The foundation, established in 1985 to promote cross-cultural understanding, publishes an artists’ directory, runs arts education programs and provides other services also of the sort an arts council could provide.

The history of the Alliance, though, has not been lost on the foundation.

Its board’s concern “is how much of a chance does (a council) like this have, and what kind of support can it expect from . . . the county and the state,” Goldman said.

Committee Chairman Joe Felz acknowledged the “painstakingly” slow pace of his committee’s work but said the arts community consensus is that “the effort is still worth investigating further.”