Ominous News for Art Scene : Galleries: James Corcoran, who started Santa Monica’s gallery boom in the mid-’80s, will end his exhibition program in February. Other dealers are regrouping.

Santa Monica’s art scene has sunk further into recessionary gloom with the loss of another gallery. And not just any gallery. James Corcoran--who in 1986 started the city’s art gallery boom by moving his prestigious showcase from West Hollywood to the beach--will terminate his exhibition program at the end of February.

The news is ominous for the Southland’s entire art community because the James Corcoran Gallery has been Southern California’s premier showcase for the region’s trademark artists, such as Ed Ruscha, Billy Al Bengston, Peter Alexander, Joe Goode and Kenneth Price.

Corcoran recently joined Robert Mnuchin, a major contemporary art collector and retired investment banker, in a new gallery in Manhattan. C&M; Arts, which will specialize in works from the 1940s to the 1970s, will open after the first of the year on the first floor of Mnuchin’s Upper Eastside townhouse. Reached by telephone at the New York gallery, Corcoran said he hadn’t decided whether to close the Santa Monica gallery completely or retain it as a private operation. Sources close to Corcoran said he plans to sell the building at 1327 5th St.

The longtime dealer said his decision to discontinue the Santa Monica exhibition program was determined less by his new business venture than “the climate right now, which is pretty uninteresting.” Members of the Santa Monica gallery staff have been advised of Corcoran’s preliminary plans, but they will meet with him next week to work out details, he said.

The Corcoran’s impending demise is only the latest in a series of gallery closures, which has decimated Santa Monica’s once-flourishing art scene. Three New York-based operations, BlumHelman, Luhring Augustine Hetzler and Bess Cutler, opened branches in Santa Monica but pulled out after a few years. Other Santa Monica galleries that have closed or gone private include Karl Bornstein, Marilyn Butler, Richard Kuhlenschmidt, Krygier/Landau, Michael Maloney, Pence, Marc Richards and Andrea Ross.

Still other Santa Monica dealers have forged new partnerships, scaled back their operations or are in the process of doing so. Daniel Weinberg is negotiating a lease to cut his 6,000-square-foot gallery in half, effective Feb. 1. He plans to retain the front part of his gallery at 2032 Broadway and reduce his exhibition program to four or five shows a year, while continuing to present the work of major New York artists such as Jeff Koons and Richard Serra.

“I don’t need 6,000 square feet in this climate and at my age,” Weinberg said. Noting that he is approaching his 60th birthday and wants to spend more time with his young children.

Linda Cathcart also will make a change after the first of the year. She plans to move her Colorado Avenue gallery to 1643 12th St. and reduce public hours. The first show, featuring sculptor Louise Bourgeois’ work, will be open from noon-6 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays and by appointment, but hours may vary for subsequent exhibitions.

Like Santa Monica dealer Ruth Bloom, who dissolved her partnership with Jeannie Meyers and reconfigured her gallery, and Fred Hoffman, who closed his Santa Monica showcase and merged with Salander-O’Reilly Galleries in Beverly Hills, Weinberg and Cathcart are trying to adapt to a depressed art market.

The rash of closures and cutbacks doesn’t leave Santa Monica without galleries, however. At least two dozen galleries--including half a dozen high-profile showcases--are still in operation in the beachside city. Nor is Santa Monica the only area to experience such difficulties. There has been considerable art gallery fallout across the country since the art market collapsed about three years ago. And trouble isn’t over, according to dealers who are scrambling to hang on.

In the meantime, a lot of soul-searching is going on as Los Angeles’ art aficionados ponder long-term effects of losing so many galleries and turning others into private dealerships.

“It’s clear that L.A. can’t sustain the gallery scene that developed here in the ‘80s,” Cathcart said. “I don’t blame anyone, but we have an education problem. A gallery is a business; it’s not a public service. . . . People don’t seem to understand that it costs a lot of money to provide exhibitions.” If the public wants the pleasure of going to galleries and museums want to benefit from collectors who buy artworks and donate them, galleries must get more support from the community, she said.