Irvine Foundation tightens its philanthropy belt

The James Irvine Foundation, long one of the state’s leading donors to social causes and the arts, is trimming its staff from 42 positions to 35 in the wake of hefty stock-market losses and plans a strategic shift that will reduce its arts philanthropy.

The first move in that shift: the termination of program director Melanie Beene, the most senior of the foundation’s three arts staffers, who will leave her position at the end of the month.

“We will definitely continue in the arts,” said David Shaw, San Francisco-based spokesman for the foundation, “but I think it will be a more focused and smaller program in the future.”

The foundation will honor grants already announced, and no further steps are expected until after the Irvine board meets in December, Shaw said. But he added that the foundation’s arts grants and overall grant total -- $11.5 million and $63 million, respectively, in 2002 -- will probably shrink in 2003.

The Irvine Foundation was established in 1937 by philanthropist James Irvine, whose 110,000-acre ranch in Orange County was among the largest private land holdings in the state. As recently as 1999, Shaw said, its assets amounted to $1.7 billion. At most recent count, Shaw said, the weak economy and stumbling stock market had cut that figure to $1.1 billion.

The foundation’s grant recipients in 2002 included the California Institute for the Arts in Valencia ($750,000 over three years); the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego and the San Francisco Museum of Contemporary Art ($600,000 each over three years); the Los Angeles-based Ford Theatre Foundation ($450,000 over three years); Los Angeles Opera ($300,000 over three years); the Cornerstone Theatre Company ($300,000 over three years); the Pasadena-based Armory Center for the Arts ($300,000 over three years); and Venice-based L.A. Theatre Works ($250,000 over two years).

-- Christopher Reynolds