County museum’s art director on the mend

Young Chang

NEWPORT BEACH -- Officials from the Orange County Museum of Art

announced Monday that director Naomi Vine is recovering from a successful

surgery that removed a melanoma tumor from her brain in late September.

Vine had suffered a cerebral hemorrhage in August, which museum

officials had kept quiet about until this week. In improved health, Vine

has decided it would be appropriate to disclose her condition, museum

spokesman Brian Langston said.

An extended period of recovery is expected, and Langston added that

her time off will probably exceed three months.

Chief Curator and Deputy Director Elizabeth Armstrong, who joined the

staff six months ago, was named acting director in late September by the

museum’s board of trustees. She has since overseen both her curatorial

department and the administrative side of operations, which includes

managing fund-raisers, development matters and budgets.

“But I’m also looking to hire an interim administrator to assist me

because I need to, at the same time, keep the curatorial program moving

forward,” Armstrong said.

The acting director is talking to candidates and expects to make a

decision in the next few weeks.

Colleagues of Vine continue to hope for a quick recovery.

“Knowing Dr. Vine, who is a strong and dedicated person, she’ll be

back as soon as she can,” Langston said.

Museum leaders also said Monday that Vine’s prognosis is “very good.”

“She’s very alert, she’s very verbal, and I know she’s getting

stronger every day,” Armstrong said. “The surgery was very successful.”

Armstrong’s duties have nearly doubled in the past couple of months,

but the director said she feels the most challenging phase has passed.

Langston said the museum’s board members were confident Armstrong

could take on the added responsibilities, which led them to fill the

temporary vacancy within the staff.

“It’s fair to say that our board of trustees views that our personnel

is our second-most important resource, the artwork being the most

important,” Langston said. “They take the issues of staffing very, very

seriously, particularly the issue of who’s going to lead the museum.”

* Young Chang writes features. She may be reached at (949) 574-4268 or

by e-mail at o7 young.chang@latimes.comf7 .