Arts center dancing after $3-million gift

Jeff Benson

The Orange County Performing Arts Center received a $3-million grant

from the James Irvine Foundation last week that will help fund

education programs and the construction of additional facilities.

The center will use $1.5 million for The Center’s Building on the

Vision capital campaign to build the Renee and Henry Segerstrom

Concert Hall and the Samueli Theater, Orange County Performing Arts

Center president Jerry Mandel said. The other $1.5 million will be

used to establish an endowment fund that will help support education

programs and the facility’s new education center, he said.

“We’re very excited about this,” Mandel said. “The James Irvine

Foundation is one of the most important foundations in the country

and in this region. It’s got lots of its origins here in Orange

County, and to have it support us is exciting. We’re very pleased and

appreciative of this outstanding group.”

Mandel said staffs from both organizations began meetings in July

to discuss a possible grant to pay for construction of the 2,000-seat

Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, the 500-seat Samueli

Theater, the education center and outdoor plaza. The new additions

are scheduled for completion in 2006.

“This is another good step in completing funding for our new

concert hall, which should help establish the center as one of the

top centers in country,” Mandel said.

Troy Botello, director of education and community programs at the

center, said he plans to work with its arts partners, including the

Pacific Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonic Society of Orange

County, the Pacific Chorale and Opera Pacific.

He also wants to expand education programs to other parts of

Orange County and the Inland Empire.

The center will work with local teachers to improve arts education

at various grade levels, Botello said.

“It’s really helping us establish education endowment,” he said.

“We hope to really deepen the experience by working on professional

development. We want to make a level of service and quality of

educational opportunities available to the community, and a lot of

that is the quality educational experience of what’s happening on the

stages.”

The James Irvine Foundation announced Monday plans for $15 million

in new grants to California nonprofit organizations. The foundation

has donated $31.9 million in 2004.

“This grant recognizes the foundation’s roots in Orange County and

the world-class status of the Orange County Performing Arts Center,”

James E. Canales, president and chief executive of the foundation,

said in a statement. “As one of the largest funders of the arts in

California, the foundation feels strongly that California’s

communities benefit from a rich and diverse arts culture.

“The Orange County Performing Arts Center offers Southern

Californians extraordinary access to a wide range of outstanding

performing arts events. The foundation is especially pleased to be

supporting the center in the expansion of its arts education

efforts.”

* JEFF BENSON is the news assistant and may be reached at (714)

966-4617 or by e-mail at jeff.benson@latimes.com.