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2 weeks ago | 
cultureoc.org | Paul Hodgins |Richard Chang
In a surprising move, the University of California, Irvine announced today that negotiations were underway with the Orange County Museum of Art that would bring the museum under the university’s stewardship.
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1 month ago | 
cultureoc.org | Paul Hodgins
Richard Stein of Arts OC has been appointed to the California Arts Council by Gov. Newsom. Stein has served as the President and CEO of Arts Orange County for the past 17 years and will retire from that position next month. The California Arts Council is the state's only public arts grants provider.
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1 month ago | 
cultureoc.org | Paul Hodgins
Most have no easy way to replace withdrawn grants, which reimburse groups for money already spent. The federal government’s ax has fallen hard on Orange County’s arts community. Earlier this month, the Trump administration began withdrawing current National Endowment for the Arts grants previously earmarked for recipients across the nation. The action followed President Trump's proposal on May 2 that the federal agency be eliminated altogether next year.
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1 month ago | 
cultureoc.org | Paul Hodgins
The money was earmarked for the theater’s current production of “The Staircase.”South Coast Repertory is a victim of the latest cuts in arts funding by the Trump administration. On May 2, the theater received word that a $20,000 National Endowment for the Arts grant awarded to its production of “The Staircase” was being withdrawn. The play about Hawaiian myths and stories opened that night on SCR’s Julianne Argyros Stage.
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2 months ago | 
cultureoc.org | Paul Hodgins
The ceremony on Sept. 16 will include honoring the group’s longtime leader, Richard Stein, who is retiring. For the silver anniversary of its OC Arts Awards, Arts Orange County will honor several institutions, emerging and established artists and arts leaders, including its president and CEO, Richard Stein, who will step down at the end of June after nearly 17 years in the position.
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2 months ago | 
conservativehome.com | Paul Hodgins
Paul Hodgins is the former Conservative Leader of Richmond Council“There’s no way of sugar-coating this — so I’ll just come out with it. The Conservative Party is dead. In fact, it’s been dead for quite some while.” so wrote ConservativeHome columnist Peter Franklin recently. He is dead right. William Atkinson was repeatedly warning the same in his last days as this website’s assistant editor. I and others have, too, written similar in the recent past.
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Mar 24, 2025 | 
cultureoc.org | Paul Hodgins
We are proud to honor donors giving $5,000 or more in our new Publishers donor level. As Culture OC settles into our second year of providing local arts and culture news, we’re receiving broader support from the community. To acknowledge that generosity, we have created a new category, Publishers, for individual or institutional donors who give $5,000 or more. We’re honored to include three supporters at that level.
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Mar 7, 2025 | 
cultureoc.org | Paul Hodgins
The theater’s challenges mirror many of American theater’s current dilemmas. It’s been a tough few months for South Coast Repertory. Last summer saw its final production at the Mission San Juan Capistrano. “Outside SCR,” a collaboration between the Costa Mesa theater company and the historic Mission, brought plays to an attractive outdoor stage in the Mission’s courtyard for four summers. In many ways the arrangement seemed to work well for both partners, and audiences loved the setting.
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Feb 27, 2025 | 
cultureoc.org | Paul Hodgins
Alexander Shelley will conduct major works by Ravel, Stravinsky and Rimsky-Korsakov. Pacific Symphony’s 2025-26 classical series, announced today, includes four appearances by its music director designate, Alexander Shelley, who will assume the position full-time in 2026-27. Current music director Carl St.Clair will make several appearances, including a production of “Turandot” and a special all-Beethoven concert featuring pianist Lang Lang.
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Feb 17, 2025 | 
cultureoc.org | Paul Hodgins
The ensemble, founded 86 years ago, will perform with blues singer Shemekia Copeland. The Blind Boys of Alabama have been a uniquely powerful voice for gospel music for more than 80 years, winning multiple Grammy awards, influencing generations of musicians and breaking racial barriers. Founded in 1939 in Talladega, Alabama, the group has gone through many iterations as they slowly gained popularity.
