Art Museum Merger Plan Criticized

A plan that would keep the Laguna Art Museum open despite a controversial merger with the Newport Harbor Museum was greeted Friday night by local art supporters with critical skepticism and harsh words for the plan’s authors.

A standing-room-only crowd of the Laguna Art Museum’s membership, along with residents and other supporters, packed City Hall to air their views on a compromise plan that would make the local landmark a satellite of the merged Orange County Museum of Art.

Some said they had accepted the plan as the best way to ensure the Laguna museum, often described as the soul of this seaside city’s arts, would not be closed, but others balked at the proposal.

“This is not a merger, this is a takeover,” said Vernon Spitaleri, an area art collector. “[It was] engineered by a takeover artist who would make Machiavelli blush.”

Members of the Laguna Art Museum have until April 20 to vote on the proposal.

The Friday meeting was organized by Save Laguna Art Museum, or SLAM, which wants guarantees that the merger won’t close the Laguna museum. SLAM leaders hoped that meeting participants would spot any loopholes in the agreement they hammered out with Laguna museum trustees.

Some in the audience had concerns that the agreement would not ensure the museum’s financial security. Laguna Beach Historical Society President Belinda Blacketer said she would feel better with assurances of a solid money source.

“Without a funding mechanism,” she said, “I don’t see this as being viable.”

Robert Brief, a Costa Mesa attorney representing SLAM, said the agreement may be the museum’s only chance.

“I think we’ve negotiated the best deal we can,” he said. “Without an agreement, there’s a very strong likelihood that the museum will be closed and the collection will be gone.”

Under the agreement, the Laguna museum would be owned by the new Orange County Museum of Art but would remain open and keep its name. Other provisions:

* Orange County Museum of Art could not sell the museum building nor parts of the museum’s permanent collection without approval from the Laguna Heritage Corp., largely made up of SLAM members.

* Programming also would be subject to approval by the Laguna Heritage Corp.; the Orange County Museum would staff the museum and give the corporation almost complete access to the collection.

* The corporation would be responsible for two-thirds of the museum’s annual budget, projected at about $400,000.

If the Orange County Museum defaulted on its one-third share, the corporation could foreclose on the building, lease it for $1 a year or purchase it, according to the agreement.

A condition of the plan is that SLAM drop all opposition to the merger.

SLAM president G. Ray Kerciu said Thursday that SLAM will bring any “meaningful and doable” changes suggested at the meeting back to the trustees. It plans a rally in support of the museum today.

Kerciu said he doubted that the corporation on its own could raise $22,000 monthly, its funding share. A majority of the City Council supports the idea of city funding for the museum, and the council voted last week to investigate funding methods.

Kerciu said Thursday that he would support the compromise plan without a guarantee of city funding, because he expects that the funding will materialize.

Proponents contend that without a merger, the Laguna museum risks insolvency.