Kate Hoffman steps away after more than two decades guiding the Huntington Beach Art Center
Kate Hoffman was gifted a box of watercolor paints some months ago.
She hasn’t touched it yet, but just the thought brings a smile to her face.
“I can’t wait,” she said. “It’s Christmas over and over again with that little box of paints.”
Hoffman will soon have more time for her own artistic endeavors. As the holiday season hit this year, she had some news to share.
After nearly 23 years, she will be retiring as the executive director of the Huntington Beach Art Center at the end of the year.
Hoffman, who turned 76 this year, said she felt that it was time. She and her partner eventually plan to move back to Arizona, she said, where her daughter and grandchildren await.
“I love the ocean, there’s no question about it,” said Hoffman, who lives in Lakewood. “California is lovely. As I’m aging, I’m recognizing the need for family and the opportunity to move again. I do like moving. There’s a certain amount of fun that goes with exploring new territory. Now I feel as if I’m going to be going back to Arizona, but with new eyes and a new attitude.”
Hoffman is proud of her tenure at the Huntington Beach Art Center. The walls of the center on Main Street were bare this week after the “Inspired” exhibition recently closed, but not for long.
In late January, the “Centered on the Center” exhibition will begin, which Hoffman calls the iconic show of the year.
She will miss the exhibition opening nights, which typically draw several hundred people or more.
“I don’t know how I’m going to leave people,” she said. “You know, we all are here because we love art, and art comes through people. It doesn’t exist on its own. As we embrace the people who come through here, make friends with them and bond with them, we’ve created a family of artists of all stripes.”
The Huntington Beach Art Center Artist Council, more than 200 members strong, is one primary way that happens. A Costa Mesa man who asked to be called by his artist name, “Destructo,” is a member of the council.
It’s given him a community after he moved from England to California in the 1990s, originally to form a skateboard company.
“Kate’s always got good energy,” Destructo said. “I enjoy the way that the Artist Council combines and unifies everybody. The whole Artist Council has been an interesting exercise in ‘don’t read a book by its cover.’ They’re people that if you saw them at the grocery store, you probably wouldn’t even give them the time of the day. The diversity and the opportunity to meet like minds that you may have otherwise passed by is pretty exciting and cool.”
Though the gallery has standards, Hoffman wants artists and visitors to feel welcome and have fun.
In the front lobby is a neon piece by the late artist James McDemas, who passed away in 2012 after a battle with leukemia.
McDemas’ mother, Carolyn, said she met Hoffman some time later. Now her son’s sculpture — three pale green letters that spell out “A-R-T” — is on display for all to see.
“She told me that she was not going to leave the job until the sculpture purchase was seen to,” said Carolyn McDemas, who lives in Huntington Beach and is another member of the Artist Council. “I think that’s an interesting aspect of her diligence and caring.”
After moving to Southern California in the early 1990s following a divorce, Hoffman worked at the Long Beach Museum of Art for several years before taking the position at the Huntington Beach Art Center in 2001. She said over time, the center has evolved to become a very strong community gallery.
She likened her job to a cat herder, making the analogy between artists and the furry felines.
“If you put them all together, every one of them approaches it differently, every one of them has an edge of some sort or another,” Hoffman said. “They seduce you with colors and vibrant styles and imagery that really knocks your socks off from time to time. Who would have thought that art could be so enriching and dynamic and exciting? All of these wonderful words that don’t do it justice. Not quite.
“I’ve watched dentists and scientists become incredible photographers. I have a few doctors in here that have gotten lost in the demands of oil painting. People escape through art, and people also engage through art. Art becomes a vehicle for us to find our higher selves, and I really think that this group of people and this institution are doing that.”
Now, perhaps it is Hoffman’s time to dive further into her own art career. She said she has no say in her replacement at the art center, though she’s talked to her supervisor and other higher-ups about the kinds of personalities that are needed.
“I’m just excited,” she said. “I was terrified, now I’m excited. It’s just the right time ... that makes it all exciting and not too scary.”
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