Orange County Center For Contemporary Art

Howard N. Fox recently tooled around Southern California in his Honda in deciding upon the two artists to be featured in Orange County Center for Contemporary Art's "First Annual Juried Installation Show." It seems the mileage paid off. "I've juried (installation) exhibitions locally, regionally and nationally for more than a decade, and I have to say, this one was far and away the most engaging, the most serious, and the most challenging for me," Fox said recently.

8pm Music Chinese composer Tan Dun wrote a Concerto for Erhu and Chamber Orchestra for Ang Lee's acclaimed film, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." But the work was not included in the movie. Orange County gets to hear the world premiere, along with the West Coast premiere of his Concerto for Water Percussion and Orchestra. Dun will conduct. The soloists will include Karen Han, erhu (an ancient Chinese instrument akin to the violin), and David Cossin, water percussionist.

I've just been to three juried art shows, and I'd like a time machine, please. As I understand it, these annual grab bags used to mean a lot more decades ago, when art-making was a less divisive endeavor. Oh, there's always been rivalry among artists.

Step, if you will, outside the box. Orange County is home to a rich array of arts venues that suit art lovers of all tastes, including those who seek edgier works. For those who are curious and venturesome, the following venues present works that push the envelope in Orange County. Visual Art Laguna Art Museum: This seaside museum offers an eclectic mix of contemporary art, including California Impressionism, pop culture and exhibitions by California artists.

8pm Music The music of American iconoclasts Harry Partch and Lou Harrison, who invented alternative tuning systems and unique instruments on which to play their compositions, will be performed by local ensemble Just Strings at the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art. The program includes Partch's "Barstow: Eight Hitchhiker's Inscriptions" (1941), "Letter from Hobo Pablo" (1943) and "Three Intrusions" (1949) and Harrison's "Suite No. 1" (1976), "Suite No. 2" (1976-92) and "Serenade" (1978).

The Community Development Agency will pay $35,000 in back taxes, fees and penalties so that the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, at 117 N. Sycamore St., can stay in business. The nonprofit center houses an art gallery and administrative offices. Center officials had assumed in 1993 that they were exempt from paying property taxes, but in 1998, officials were informed that they would have been exempt only if the then-unfinished building had been occupied by the nonprofit group.

The Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, an artists' cooperative founded in 1980, has hired its first full-time paid administrator. Anne Mattola, an artist facilitator with the Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego for the past three years, will do community outreach and development work for the center. Her salary will be paid in part by a $10,000 grant from the city of Santa Ana, awarded last year for the administration of a visual art education program in city schools.

Self-Help Graphics' vibrant inks have left a lasting imprint. For 28 years, the acclaimed nonprofit arts center has been a mecca of fine printmaking in East Los Angeles, a nexus of Chicano pride and artistic endeavor. It will share its wealth with the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art in Santa Ana, when the high-energy exhibition "Inspiring Heroes" opens July 7.

The Community Development Agency will pay $35,000 in back taxes, fees and penalties so that the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, at 117 N. Sycamore St., can stay in business. The nonprofit center houses an art gallery and administrative offices. Center officials had assumed in 1993 that they were exempt from paying property taxes, but in 1998, officials were informed that they would have been exempt only if the then-unfinished building had been occupied by the nonprofit group.

The one person almost certain to be at any art opening of note in Orange County is Kenneth J. Kleinberg. A longtime collector of contemporary art and an attorney whose Costa Mesa practice is partly devoted to art law, Kleinberg is co-chairman of the joint collections trust committee for the Orange County Museum of Art and the Laguna Art Museum.

The one person almost certain to be at any art opening of note in Orange County is Kenneth J. Kleinberg. A longtime collector of contemporary art and an attorney whose Costa Mesa practice is partly devoted to art law, Kleinberg is co-chairman of the joint collections trust committee for the Orange County Museum of Art and the Laguna Art Museum.

I've just been to three juried art shows, and I'd like a time machine, please. As I understand it, these annual grab bags used to mean a lot more decades ago, when art-making was a less divisive endeavor. Oh, there's always been rivalry among artists.