HUNTINGTON BEACH : Art Center Receives $51,500 in Grants

The Huntington Beach Art Center Foundation on Monday night received two grants totaling $51,500.

Representatives of GTE Directories, Huntington Central Park Equestrian Center, and the Huntington Beach Art Center Foundation presented the City Council a check for $50,000, representing funds raised from the summer equestrian show.

A separate check for $1,500, also earmarked for the art center, was presented to the council from Orange County government.

Michael Mudd, the city’s cultural affairs manager, said that so far about $550,000 has been raised to convert the former Southern California Edison building at 538 Main St. into an art center.

Construction, expected to be completed in the fall of 1993, will cost about $750,000, Mudd said.

The city is expected to put in about $200,000 into the 11,000-square-foot building but will be repaid by money to be raised by the foundation, Mudd said.

The art center will feature contemporary work by living artists in the fields of painting, photography, film, video and performance art.

There will be three galleries and a studio, where workshops and classes will be held for adults and children.

There also will be a multipurpose room for lectures and film and video programs and a bookstore.

The $1,500 from the county grant was presented by Supervisor Harriett M. Wieder, whose district includes Huntington Beach. The donation came from the county’s Community Social Programs fund.

“The Huntington Beach Art Center will be a valuable addition to the cultural makeup of the city,” Wieder said. “I am pleased that Orange County is able to assist fund-raising efforts with the $1,500 grant, enabling the foundation to launch a membership program and continue to build the program endowment that will support the art center in years to come.”