A Daunting Arts Challenge

It’s disturbing that a pillar of innovation in the Orange County arts scene is thinking about changing what makes it so attractive in the first place. The problem for the Huntington Beach Arts Center is no mystery for those trying to make ends meet in local cultural institutions. Because it doesn’t have enough money, it is thinking about becoming more “traditional.” Translated, the mission of the center no longer would be as a venue for cutting-edge contemporary exhibitions.

The larger Orange County arts world already has been affected by retrenchment arising out of financial considerations. When arts institutions are repositioned, they can lose some of their excitement and adventure. The county has been lucky to have this center, which during four short years has become nationally recognized. In the fate of the center lies a piece of a larger question, what kind of place will Orange County be for the arts in the future?

The numbers are daunting enough. The center faces a more than $300,000 deficit. This includes a big debt on the construction of the facility as well as a budget shortfall. Something has to be done.

The city hopes that the center eventually can become private and self-supporting. It provided about $110,000 of the center’s budget this year, with other money coming from admissions, classes, sales, fund-raisers, membership dues and programs and lectures.

The financial pressures certainly are daunting. Times are tough in the competition for dollars from the public sector and fund-raising from private sources is always a challenge.

The board should be aggressive in seeking help from new sources of revenue to save the mission of being a contemporary arts center.

One way or another, a program to erase the deficit will have to be fashioned. The hard-won reputation for innovation should not be abandoned without a vigorous new effort.

The Pulitzer Prize for drama was awarded this week to Margaret Edson, a writer who sent an unsolicited script about a professor dying of ovarian cancer to South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa. There it was picked from hundreds and later staged. This is the spirit of innovation that can and should have a place in the larger Orange County arts scene.

Times are tough for the Huntington Beach Art Center, but its supporters should be encouraged to find a way to stay the course during a difficult period.