‘Art exists everywhere’

After a rocky beginning, Huntington Beach Art Center hits its stride, presenting daring yet welcoming exhibits.Existing in relative obscurity is more than a rarity in downtown Surf City: It’s a sign of success.

While the art world and local community continue to embrace the Huntington Beach Art Center, it rarely gets a mention at City Hall or behind the dais. That’s good news for Art Director Kate Hoffman, who has successfully depoliticized the museum at 538 Main St. and reintroduced a focus on contemporary art and community needs.

“We’re always looking to find that balance,” said Hoffman, who is quietly ushering in the 10-year anniversary of the center Friday with a musical celebration featuring the Ron Kobayashi quartet and jazz vocalist Peggie Perkins.

It’s been a little more than six years since the museum reopened, and besides a few announcements and public thanks, Hoffman spent little time appearing before the council and more time planning cultural events at the city’s official art space.

While the Art Center is a decade old, its story goes back to 1980, when the city’s newly formed Allied Arts Board began campaigning for its own facility.

After nearly eight years of negotiating with Southern California Edison, the city purchased the Art Center’s current building for $758,000 in 1988 and spent the next several years lining up donors. The center’s fundraising arm helped secure private donations for the construction and operation of the center. Initially, the city was going to foot the entire bill, but it backed off that proposal in 1988 after a storm badly damaged the pier, requiring $12 million in repairs.

After much anticipation, the Art Center opened its doors in 1995 and almost immediately earned critical acclaim from the national art community, which praised its daring exhibitions of contemporary artists.

But the fame came with a price. The museum wasn’t in keeping with the taste of the community, and the center had a difficult time attracting patrons and corporate sponsors. One exhibit, “How to Start Your Own Country,” angered some community members when a Huntington Beach High School student included a bucket of fake feces and urine in his piece to demonstrate how people in his home country of Vietnam used the restroom.

“It seemed like the center was a national success before it was a local success,” Hoffman said.

In 1999, the center was closed for six months as the council grappled with the museum’s direction and its $300,000 operating debt. Curator Darlene DeAngelo was hired when the museum reopened, and Hoffman was brought on board in 2001 to help hone its community focus.

In the last year, Hoffman said, the center has begun making real progress in fusing the contemporary art world with the needs of the community.

“We want to influence people and bring them into a place where they can comfortably appreciate contemporary art,” said Hoffman, who has worked hard to keep pretension out of the center. “We want a place where everyone is welcome and [that] gets rid of the stereotypes that art is elitist. Art exists everywhere, and we want to help others find that.”

One of the center’s most successful exhibitions was its 2004 Paul Frank show, honoring the works of the local clothing designer and the creative processes that have inspired his popular line. Other exhibitions, like the 100-year Huntington Beach photographic celebration and the Plein Air Festival, have infused art throughout the community, while the Out of Context exhibition of Vietnamese and VietnameseAmerican artists challenged viewers’ concepts of identity.

“One of the rules of an art center is that it meets the needs of the community and educates us about a wonderful world we’ve never been exposed to,” former Mayor Shirley Detloff said. “The more the community gets to know about the Art Center, the more support will come.”

Hoffman credits DeAngelo for creating a number of outreach events such as the Family Arts Days and summer arts camps for raising awareness about the center and drawing in more community members.

Yet even with this renewed focus on the needs of Huntington Beach, the Art Center continues to be a destination point for Southern California’s artistic community, artist Ed Giardina said. “There’s a smaller base of people that are interested in contemporary art, but those people definitely make their way to the Huntington Beach Art Center,” he said. “It’s definitely a place that’s worthy of exhibition and works closely and successfully with artists.”20051117iq0woaknKENT TREPTOW / INDEPENDENT(LA)Kate Hoffman, director of the Huntington Beach Art Center, stands among sculptures by Gordon Senior. The center is celebrating its 10th anniversary on Friday.