Laguna May Help Fund Satellite Museum

A plan that would use city funds to keep the Laguna Art Museum building open as a satellite if the institution’s trustees approve a merger with the Newport Harbor Art Museum has won the support of a majority of the City Council.

The plan, hammered out by museum trustees and opponents of a proposal to merge the Laguna and Newport Harbor art museums, will be presented at City Hall at 7:30 tonight to residents, local artists and Laguna museum members.

Under the museum’s bylaws, a merger cannot take place unless the members approve it. Loss of the building has been a major factor in the merger opposition.

Leaders of SLAM (Save Laguna Art Museum) who worked on the plan said they expect it to be supported tonight.

Under the plan, the satellite facility would be called the Laguna Art Museum and would include shows of work by Southern Californians, juried and traveling exhibits, and the Laguna museum’s permanent collection. The Orange County Museum of Art would own the permanent collection and staff the facility, which would be supervised by a nonprofit corporatation largely made up of current opponents to the merger.

* The corporation would be responsible for 67% of the museum’s annual budget, initially projected at $420,000.

Kerciu said Thursday that the corporation as envisioned wouldn’t “have much of a chance” of raising its share of the budget--$280,000--and that the city would have “to take a portion of this responsibility.”

Three City Council members--Mayor Wayne L. Peterson, Steve Dicterow and Kathleen Blackburn--said they support the idea of funding the museum and are examining ways to do it. Suggestions under consideration include a bond measure, a general tax of perhaps $1 per person and an unspecified surcharge on movie tickets.