Orange County Arts Leaders Meet With New Orange County Register Publisher Aaron Kushner

Arts Orange County brought together arts leaders at its offices to lunch with the new publisher of the Orange County Register, Aaron Kushner, today.  It was the first opportunity for them to meet the new owner of its major daily newspaper.  The 15 leaders represented large and mid-sized budget arts organizations and higher education.  After hearing brief overviews of their organizations, Kushner shared his vision for the Register and asked how the paper can meet the needs of the Orange County arts community.  During the two hour meeting, the discussion covered issues such as arts education and audience engagement, and what role the Register might be able to play in helping to address them, concluding with Kushner offering to attend a future meeting with arts leaders.

Those in attendance were:  Karen Ahola, Casa Romantica Cultural Center & Gardens, San Clemente; Joe Arnold, Dean, College of the Arts, California State University, Fullerton; Jonathan Burke, President, Laguna College of Art & Design, Laguna Beach; Connie Jankowski, Festival Ballet Theatre; Jayce Keane, Pacific Symphony, Santa Ana; Peter Keller, President, Bowers Museum; Joseph S. Lewis III, Dean, Claire Trevor School of the Arts, University of California, Irvine; Casey Long, Managing Director, The Chance Theatre, Anaheim; Doug Rankin, President, Irvine Barclay Theatre; Dawn Reese, Executive Director, The Wooden Floor, Santa Ana; John Scola, Executive Director, MUZEO, Anaheim; Paula Tomei, Managing Director, South Coast Repertory, Costa Mesa; Zoot Velasco, Executive Director, The Muckenthaler Cultural Center, Fullerton; Malcolm Warner, Executive Director, Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach; and Arts Orange County Executive Director Rick Stein.