Arts Group Split by Bitter Feud

A nonprofit children’s arts program, the pride of some Venice artists and art enthusiasts since the Los Angeles riots, has become a source of bitterness and division in the neighborhood’s arts community.

A power struggle between the founder of the Venice Arts Mecca and the organization’s board of directors has both sides fighting over who can best serve the children--particularly those who live in Venice’s impoverished Oakwood neighborhood. The feud ended up in court last month, when the board of directors obtained a court order against the founder, Cecil Thomas--or Bingwa, as the glib and charismatic actor prefers to be called.

A schism developed between Bingwa and others running the Venice Arts Mecca over plans for a $1.5-million project to renovate and restore the Venice Pavilion--a sprawling landmark that stands empty on the Venice boardwalk--and turn it into a community arts center. To the board of directors, the pavilion is an ideal spot.

But Bingwa, fired last year as the program’s artistic director, fears that fund-raising for the project will give wealthy do-gooders a chance to take the program out of the hands of Oakwood residents.

“It was supposed to be a neighborhood-type thing,” Bingwa said.

That vision, Bingwa added, drove him to start the Venice Arts Mecca in 1991, pairing photographers, painters, actors and others with local youngsters, teenagers and young adults.

His efforts are well-known. Striding along streets near the Venice boardwalk, calling out greetings to people as he walks by, Bingwa is clearly considered by residents to speak for the Arts Mecca.

“The Arts Mecca is Bingwa,” said Roland Muhammad, who owns a barbershop in Venice and has three sons in the program. “I don’t think just anyone can do it.”

The program gained popularity after the riots, when Bingwa joined a group of Venice art enthusiasts to turn the grass-roots Venice Arts Mecca into a nonprofit organization.

Bingwa originally supported the plans to restore the Venice Pavilion. But one problem, he said, was his opposition to the board’s idea to give larger donors more prestigious tokens of appreciation, such as putting their names on plaques.

“We’re supposed to be breaking down the class system around here,” he said.

Bingwa eventually became uncooperative, said Lynn Warshafsky, president of the board of directors. The board replaced him with a new, paid artistic director who has been canvassing Venice to build support for the program.

One board member said Bingwa was unrealistic--restoring the pavilion will take much more than grass-roots fund-raising. The city has agreed to lease the pavilion to the Venice Arts Mecca, but only if the group raises most of the funding by next February.

“How are you going to raise nearly $2 million--by having bake sales and selling calendars?” asked Joy Simmons, a physician and board member who lives in Ladera Heights.

Some Venice activists argue that it is a waste to save a damp building with a theater that is an acoustic nightmare. But the board plans to transform the mammoth concrete structure into a beautiful arts and entertainment center.

Local muralists would be commissioned to redecorate the “graffiti pit”--a concrete outdoor picnic area scrawled from top to bottom in a staggering array of colors. Nearby, culinary arts students would serve refreshments at a now-abandoned concession stand.

Inside the concrete structure, a 600-seat theater would become the home of the Venice Youth Pops Orchestra and Jazz Ensemble and space for other musical and theatrical performances. A child-care center would replace the Los Angeles Police Department substation in the basement. One space would become a darkroom--another space would become a visual arts studio.

Concerned that Bingwa may undermine the project, the group obtained a restraining order prohibiting him from using the name Venice Arts Mecca. A court order also allowed them to confiscate computer and photography equipment from Bingwa’s studio.

The next step is a mediation hearing, Warshafsky said, which has yet to be scheduled.

Now deposed, Bingwa is still offering arts classes, and he said he plans to start a similar nonprofit arts organization with a new board of directors that understands his vision.

“People are always trying to take things away from you, but you got to show that no one can stop you from realizing your dream,” he said.