Artist F.M. Arnold Dies at 93; Helped Launch ‘A Night in Fullerton’

Florence Millner Arnold, a longtime Fullerton resident and artist known for her dedication in promoting art appreciation, has died of natural causes. She was 93.

Known affectionately to friends and students as Flossie, she helped launch the arts celebration “A Night in Fullerton” nearly 30 years ago. The annual event now draws more than 20,000 people to a night of performance and visual arts at local museums on the last Friday in April.

“Push your peripheries and do the unthinkable,” Mrs. Arnold always told those around her, said close friend Dede Ginter.

After a 42-year career as a music teacher in north Orange County schools, Mrs. Arnold embraced painting at the age of 50 and went on to become an internationally recognized artist in the “hard-edge” abstract school. Examples of her work and writings are archived in the Smithsonian Institution, Fullerton spokeswoman Sylvia Palmer said.

In honor of her 90th birthday, friends created an art scholarship for aspiring young artists in her name.

“Flossie was a generous woman, and she gave to the community with her ideas and projects, with her talent, her time and her money,” said Gloria Schlaepfer, a friend who recorded Mrs. Arnold’s oral history.

Mrs. Arnold died Wednesday at Parkvista at Morningside convalescent home in Fullerton.

She is survived by her daughter, Adrienne Chakerian of Reedley, Calif., two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, 111 W. Las Palmas Drive, Fullerton.

The family requests that donations in Mrs. Arnold’s memory be made to the American Heart Assn. or a favorite charity.