Wright Cultural Center Gets New Lease on Life After Reorganization

The death of the Dorill B. Wright Cultural Center in Port Hueneme appears to have been short-lived.

The cultural arts center, which shut down in May after budget cuts forced the city to end funding to it, will reopen under the auspices of a nonprofit corporation called the Wright Cultural Arts Center.

Founders on Tuesday said the state had approved their group’s nonprofit status and that they planned to promote and enhance public awareness of “multicultural, diverse” art at the center and throughout Ventura County.

The announcement seems to illustrate a trend in the Ventura County arts community toward more private support to offset reductions in government funding.

Earlier this month, fund-raisers for Thousand Oaks’ Civic Arts Plaza kicked off a campaign to drum up dollars. Officials in Oxnard launched a similar campaign last December in an effort to rescue that city’s financially troubled civic center and art museum.

But Dorill B. Wright, the former Port Hueneme mayor for whom the new corporation and the cultural center are named, said he doesn’t believe the different groups will have to fight each other for money and programs.

“I am confident that we will not all be servicing the same parts of the community simultaneously,” Wright said.

Wright said if the city of Port Hueneme had continued funding the Dorill B. Wright Center, it’s unlikely that his group would have formed.

“I’ve tried for years to get the nonprofit organization off the ground,” he said. “When it became obvious that this center was going to close, I did a lot of thinking. I did a lot of praying,” Wright said. “And (the nonprofit corporation) just seemed right, no pun intended.”

Right or not, leaders of the county’s latest nonprofit arts effort aren’t setting their sights too high. Organizers said they hope to raise $50,000 to $60,000 in the coming few months and put on up to three programs during the fall season.

The center is owned by Port Hueneme, which will rent the facility to the corporation. Wright and other founders said the corporation’s long-range goal is to raise enough money so that the corporation can establish an endowment and operate the center off interest accrued.

“It isn’t going to happen overnight,” Wright said.

The 9-year-old center had operated on an annual budget of $254,000, of which $150,000 came from the city. Blaming state budget cutbacks, the City Council voted in February to eliminate the $150,000 subsidy, effectively closing the center.

But Dennis Murrin, center director the past five years, said he believes the center can prosper better than ever as a nonprofit entity.

The reason: Fund-raising will be easier, according to Murrin, who said many potential donors refused requests for funds when the city operated the facility.

Murrin said many potential donors “viewed (us) as a municipal deep pocket.”

“We’ve paid our taxes. Why should we donate more?’ ” is what some people would tell Murrin.

Murrin said the center hasn’t had to cancel any planned shows since its May closing because there is no official summer season. But, he said, the shutdown has thrown booking way behind. The center usually books performances up to 18 months in advance.

So far, the newly created corporation has two other board members in addition to Wright. Its president, Ray Prueter, also a former Port Hueneme mayor, will serve as vice president of the Wright Cultural Arts Center, and Wayne Jones will serve as treasurer.

“I think within a few months we will know exactly how it is going,” said Prueter, who added that at least six contributors dropped off checks before Tuesday’s news conference.

“And they were all in the hundreds,” he said of the unexpected donations. Among those who contributed Tuesday were Oxnard’s Trini Simmons, 62, and her fiance, Ralph Roanhaus, 70, of Port Hueneme.

Roanhaus, recently widowed, said after he started dating Simmons, they found the programs at the center to be worthwhile and enriching and wanted to give back for the enjoyment they experienced.