Foundation to support public arts center

Noaki Schwartz

NEWPORT BEACH -- It appears that the Arts Foundation is officially on

board to help raise funds for the $12-million Arts and Education Center,

despite previous indications that it might not be interested if the

center was publicly run.

Less than two weeks before the ad hoc committee for the center presents

its proposal before the City Council, committee members have officially

quelled the debate over whether the center should be owned and operated

privately or publicly.

“We’re all on the same page,” said committee chairman Jim Wood.

“We always were,” Art Foundation president Howard Herzog quickly

responded.

The issue surfaced more than two months ago when the committee was

choosing what governance model they would present to the City Council.

While some, like Wood, felt a publicly owned and operated center would be

simpler, Herzog and others wanted a privately run center. They were

concerned the city could potentially interfere with artistic freedom.

“We just have to use good common sense [in choosing displays],” Wood

said.

Herzog was further concerned that large companies would hesitate in case

they were rejected by the city as potential donors.

At Tuesday’s meeting, however, it was pointed out that with a

seven-member governance board, including a mix of community members and

city staff, the voting would be democratic. This would allow the

nonprofit foundation to privately raise funds for the public center

without fear of legal repercussions. It would operate much in the same

way that the private Library Foundation raises money for the public

Newport Beach Library.

In addition, if money was privately raised for a potentially

controversial display, the City Council wouldn’t have the authority to

reject the proposal.

The ad hoc committee plans to form a Capital Campaign Committee, which

will work together with the Arts Foundation to raise the money needed to

build the center. The committee will present its proposal at the Nov. 22

City Council meeting.