Prestigious gathering of arts supporters

It is arguably the most prestigious philanthropic social gathering in Orange County. The 2005 Orange County Business Committee for the Arts Awards were held Sunday in Newport Beach, attracting a crowd of powerful business, social, financial and intellectual leaders in the community.

Some 300 guests came at the invitation of committee founding executive director Betty R. Moss, an Orange County beacon of light for nearly 50 years. Moss has worked quietly behind the scenes, facilitating the union of business with arts organizations in search of patronage. The success of these partnerships has directly led to the phenomenal cultural and civic growth of Orange County.

Sunday evening, for the 24th annual gathering, once again the lofty goals of creating a vibrant business community dedicated to supporting cultural goals came to life as chairman of the committee, Donald Sodaro, presented awards to community leaders at an assemblage held in the main salon of the Orange County Museum of Art in Newport Center. Sodaro, chairman of the board of Hanford Hotels and chairman of the board of trustees of Chapman University, joined his wife, Deedee, for the event which welcomed distinguished guest of honor and keynote speaker Raymond D. Nasher, chairman of the Dallas-based Nasher Foundation, developer of the North Park Dallas Shopping Center and world-class art collector.

Nasher, 84, charmed the Newport crowd with his heartfelt address.

“My late wife and I sought an avenue to introduce our three young daughters to art,” said Nasher, explaining his introduction to the world of collecting. “Forty years ago, we began going on family vacations in the form of archeological digs to Mexico with university instructors. Our discoveries included clay pottery forms of pre-Columbian figures. At that time, such art was valued at say $20 or $30 a piece. It was collecting that we could afford.”

Nasher said it all with a generous smile. That collecting was also the Nasher entrance into the world of sculpture.

“When we began collecting, sculpture was considered a second tier to the painted canvas. A sculpture by Henri Matisse was valued at one-tenth that of a painting,” said Nasher, today considered one of the pre-eminent patrons of sculpture in the world. “Collecting must have an economic approach. Yet paying for good art is not an expenditure; it is an exchange of assets. Cash for a Picasso.”

The audience listened with silent respect.

An important part of the Nasher legacy has been the placement and display of world-class sculpture in conjunction with commercial business pursuits, such as in his shopping center and other office-retail sites.

“Art must be shared. It is lasting and meaningful, and it goes on forever,” he said with conviction. “More importantly, the marriage of art and business is key to the renaissance of this country.”