Arts Orange County

In 1986, a flashy newcomer came to the home of bean fields, orange groves and Mickey Mouse, literally and figuratively changing the profile of the arts in Orange County. Gleaming in steel and glass, with an enormous abstract "Firebird" sculpture winging from its commanding facade, the $73.3-million Orange County Performing Arts Center instantly became the county's cultural beacon. Twelve years later, 7.

Given the bankruptcy Grinch that stole into Orange County last Yuletide, it could have been a year of severe contraction around here. Instead, the maturing arts community generally got bigger and richer in 1995. Consider these developments, each expanding the local scene, which in recent recessionary years already had suffered plenty of downsizing and outright shutdowns: * The county gained a major pop-culture venue when the Big One, Edwards Cinemas Inc.'

Having witnessed the funding collapse that doomed Opera Pacific, leaders of 13 nonprofit Orange County arts organizations decided this week that it was time to get together and figure out how to survive the financial meltdown. Richard Stein, the former Laguna Playhouse executive director who now heads Arts Orange County, said there hadn't been such a summit in at least 10 years.

Orange County's per-capita arts assets are far below the regional average, according to the Orange County Cultural Indicators Report, issued Friday by an arts service organization and a charitable foundation.

The Woodbridge High School drama department received several top awards at the 28th annual Music and Art Commendation for Youth program. The event, which recognizes outstanding performing arts students in Orange County high schools, took place last month at Santa Ana High School. Woodbridge won a Macy award for Best Musical Comedy and Best Performance in a Comedy. The school's orchestra and ensemble also were recognized.

In a major step toward a full-scale Orange County cultural arts center, the Segerstrom family has tentatively agreed to donate land for a $100-million concert hall and museum complex. The Orange County Performing Arts Center has a "verbal agreement in principle" with the Segerstroms to transfer a nearby 7-acre parcel--worth about $16 million--to the center. "We need to work out the details. . .

The announcement this week of plans to raise $100 million for a new concert hall next to the Performing Arts Center met with some skepticism Friday by local arts executives, who wondered if it can be done. "I just don't see it," said Dean Corey, executive director of the Philharmonic Society of Orange County. "I just don't know where $100 million is going to come from. That's an astounding amount of money."

Opera Pacific has hired a scouting firm to help recruit a general director, following Patrick Veitch's abrupt departure from the post in December. The Costa Mesa-based company expects to have a new director in place by Labor Day, company spokesman George Sebastian said. State Supt. of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin will discuss efforts to legislate comprehensive arts education in all California public schools on April 23 in Costa Mesa.

Unless you count the Block--which throngs of movie-hounds might--late news about a one-time lima bean field eclipsed all other developments on the Orange County arts and entertainment scene this year. The Segerstrom family announced Dec. 15 that it would donate another six acres of erstwhile farmland beside the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa for the center's long-planned expansion.