O.C. Has an Arts Council at Last : Community: The private, nonprofit organization starts modestly but hopes to foster artistic unity.

After years of unsuccessful attempts, a private, nonprofit countywide arts council was launched on Monday , starting out with a shared office and just one staff member.

Arts Orange County, created by local arts, education and community leaders and supported by private donations, initially will have modest goals. All are meant to foster greater unity within the area’s arts community and communication with the general public, council officials say.

“Arts, arts education and cultural tourism are important issues countywide and can benefit from a coordinated approach,” said Fred Mickelson, immediate past-chairman of the Orange County Chamber of Commerce and Arts Orange County chairman-elect.

Local arts consultant Bonnie Brittain Hall has been named executive director of the council.

The county’s bankruptcy woes had nothing to do with the timing of the council’s formation and the council will get no money Orange County, Hall noted.

The Board of Supervisors did, however, vote on Jan. 24 to designate the group as the county’s official arts representative to the state, or “state-local partner.” The designation from the county is necessary before the council can receive state grants for redistribution.

Until now, the county had been one of just a half-dozen California counties without a local arts council.

The California Arts Council has given the new group technical assistance grants totaling $25,000 over the past two years, and The Fluor, Fieldstone and Steelcase Foundations and The Times Orange County are among business donors, Hall said Monday. Every major local arts organization has either pledged or paid for a membership, which range from $25 (for individuals) to $2,500 (for large institutions). Cities are expected to become members as well, Hall said.

The council will continue to operate on private contributions and membership fees. An annual operating budget of between $100,000 and $140,000 is anticipated for its first fiscal year, beginning July 1, said Hall, whose salary has not been determined. She added that she will hire one part-time assistant soon.

The council’s four initial goals for its first year are:

* Creating a countywide cultural database and publishing a “Directory of Orange County Cultural Resources.”

* Publishing a “Guide to Arts Education Resources in Orange County” to make parents and educators more aware of local arts institutions services.

* Launching a campaign to help county residents and tourists gain easier access to cultural information.

* Establishing communications within the arts community through newsletters, workshops and quarterly forums.

Redistribution of state and federal grants to local arts groups--a common role for such councils that can mean thousands of additional dollars in support--may be undertaken once the agency’s initial goals are at least partially met, Hall said. So-called “state-local grants” use a middleman to promote cooperation and collaboration among county councils, city arts councils and local arts organizations.

Re-granting is “not something the (council’s organizing) board wanted to lead with,” she said. “They wanted to concentrate on things that would bring the arts community together before they began a re-granting program. . . . There are things we can do collaboratively more effectively than by ourselves.”

A council committee, chaired by John Lottes, president of the Art Institute of Southern California in Laguna Beach, will study the possibility of more in-depth arts education and public-awareness efforts, Hall said, just as other committees will examine other areas of expansion.

Hall said that “The arts council can play at least a facilitator’s role in working out a plan with the Orange County Department of Education and school districts to strengthen arts education in the schools.”

He said that would result in “Strengthening the bond between the schools and arts providers, professional artists and arts organizations. Arts education, always at risk, is something we care deeply about.”

Promoting ethnic diversity was not mentioned in a statement announcing the council’s formation, but Hall said it will be an integral part of the council’s plans. Efforts will include “trying to find and pull into the loop every multiethnic organization in the county, involving them in forums and conferences and workshops and working with them” in every area of the council’s activities.

Nearly 400 local arts, education and community leaders took part in the council’s organizing process, which resulted in a three-year plan, council officials say. Some of the organizers now sit on its new board, which is chaired by John R. Stahr, a partner in the Costa Mesa law firm of Latham and Watkins.

Among other board members are David Emmes, producing artistic-director of South Coast Repertory; Jose A. Aponte, principal administrative librarian at the San Juan Capistrano Regional Library; and Tom Tomlinson, president of the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

In the early ‘70s, an Orange County Arts Alliance was formed as a countywide council, but disbanded when it failed to secure substantial funding from the county. A more recent attempt, begun about six years ago, was abandoned for the same reason.

Arts Orange County has applied for another California Arts Council technical assistance grant--$15,000 for 1995-96--but organizers envision it will be a mostly privately funded, privately run nonprofit agency.

The council is sharing offices in Irvine with the Orange County Community Foundation, which assists with local charitable efforts and has been helping with the council’s planning process.