Strive Creatively for Museum Pact : New umbrella organization must keep vital Laguna presence

The proposed merger between Newport Harbor Art Museum and Laguna Art Museum is a tall order if everything works out satisfactorily. It would produce a higher profile museum that is more economical, and that manages to rescue the Laguna museum financially while keeping a presence in the city.

This undertaking is fraught with passion, confusion, and more than a few obstacles. Needless to say, the path to merger in recent days has been shrouded in uncertainty.

The feeling in Laguna Beach for retaining a local facility is understandably deep. The concern was evident even to casual passers-by in the strong turnout of demonstrators who showed up on a recent weekend along Coast Highway.

At the same time, Newport Harbor, like Laguna, focuses its concerns on the financial imperatives that led to the merger. These led to the goal of creating a regional arts institution in the first place.

Commitment alone will not resolve all the fine points and guarantee an outcome that is in the best interest of the combined organization. The parties still must strive to achieve an agreement that keeps the Laguna presence within the umbrella of the merged museum. It is important that Laguna not splinter off. Therefore, it would be wise to be certain that proceeds from, say, a building sale should be put back into the hoped-for merged museum.

Although trustees of both museums have voted for the merger, they must vote again because of a compromise worked out by Laguna trustees and Save Laguna Art Museum (SLAM), a group opposed to merger. The central point would be to have the Laguna Art Museum building remain open and operate as a semiautonomous facility run by the merged museum. The agreement would result in SLAM dropping its opposition to the merger and would establish a nonprofit corporation that would raise much of the Laguna museum’s annual budget.

So far so good. Newport museum officials had not spelled out all their concerns about the compromise agreement by week’s end. However, it is clear that they have properly recognized the interest in ensuring financial viability. Their questions need to be addressed.

In Laguna, there are those who remain firmly opposed to a merger, and their influence is strong. Whether any compromise agreement with them would harm the merger is a legitimate source of anxiety to those trying to fine tune the agreement.

This merger involves some art enthusiasts who may perceive that they have separate interests as defined by their previous experience with independence. Now they must shift gears to be sure that whatever form this agreement takes will serve the larger goal of advancing the visual arts in Orange County.