Talks of merger between UCI, OCMA progress as art hub faces era of uncertainty
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As fall approaches, UC Irvine and the Orange County Museum of Art are architecting a merger that could cede management of OCMA to the university and potentially bring two museums under one roof at Segerstrom Center for the Arts.
Although much is still speculative, a deal could be brokered in the coming months — pending approval by the University of California Board of Regents, which next meets in mid-September — with an announcement and details to follow.
UCI spokesman Mike Uhlenkamp confirmed the two parties in June signed an exploratory letter of intent to broker an agreement, under which UC Irvine’s Jack & Shanaz Langson Institute & Museum of California Art might be relocated to the 53,000-square-foot Costa Mesa arts complex.
Mordechai “Moti” Ferder, founder of Newport Beach’s Lugano Diamonds & Jewelry, resigned from his position May 7 and, according to one lawsuit, is living abroad and transferring his assets out of California as legal threats mount.
In exchange, the university could potentially assume management and financial backing of the Orange County Museum of Art that would “open a new chapter for OCMA and establish a new model for public arts engagement, scholarship and access,” UCI officials said in June.
“If finalized, the collaboration would secure OCMA’s future by bringing the museum under the stewardship of UC Irvine, combining OCMA’s rich history and contemporary curatorial strength with the academic depth, programming expertise, financial backing and institutional infrastructure of [Langson IMCA],” the statement continued.
UC Irvine has been eyeing brick-and-mortar options for Langson IMCA, which comprises more than 4,500 pieces within the Buck and Irvine Museum collections, separately acquired by the institution through agreements signed in 2014 and 2016, respectively.
The museum is currently housed in an interim location on Irvine’s Von Karman Avenue. Officials in 2022 announced a tentative plan to construct a museum on UC Irvine’s North Campus, at Campus Drive and Jamboree Road, but the costly endeavor could be abandoned if a relocation were to be executed as part of the merger with OCMA.
“It makes sense for both institutions on a number of levels, including us being able to expand our reach further into Orange County. We were looking for a site for our museum, we can pause immediate plans and potentially not have to build a museum, so there would be a cost savings for us.”
While it’s unclear how long a coupling has been considered, initial negotiations began just two months after OCMA officials in April announced the departure of Director Heidi Zuckerman at the end of this year.
An official search for Zuckerman’s successor has not yet been publicly announced. Meanwhile, Langson IMCA is operating under Interim Director Rich Aste after its inaugural director, Kim Kanatani, left in May 2024.
Uhlenkamp could not speak to what the leadership plan might look like but confirmed the university’s search for a permanent director was ongoing and that the selected candidate would “play a critical role in shaping the integrated future of Langson IMCA and OCMA.”
OCMA spokeswoman Emma Jacobsen-Sive referred all questions regarding the merger to Uhlenkamp and UC Irivine’s communications team.
Talks of a merger come at a turbulent time for the Costa Mesa museum, which finds itself not only without a defined succession plan past December but in a period of turnover on the OCMA Board of Trustees.
That’s where, sometime between mid-May and early June of 2024, 14 museum directors vacated their seats and were replaced by 10 new appointees with no public announcement.
The departed trustees include former board President Lucy Sun, Vice President Lisa Merage and Treasurer Steve Roush, along with Jim Pick, a longtime major donor with his wife, Rosalyn, for whom a gallery on the OCMA mezzanine was named.
Although museum officials pressed for comment in recent weeks would not speak on the mass exodus, the shift suggests an atmosphere of unrest at the prestigious contemporary art hub.
Meanwhile, a high-profile OCMA donor and associate of Zuckerman’s since her time as director of the Aspen Art Museum has recently been named in multiple lawsuits alleging fraudulent business dealings involving his Newport Beach diamond business and the parent company he sold the outfit to for a reported $256 million in 2021.
Mordechai “Moti” Ferder, founder and chief executive of Lugano Diamonds & Jewelry, made headlines ahead of OCMA’s grand reopening in Segerstrom Center for the Arts in 2022, when officials announced a $2.5-million donation from Lugano would allow the museum to offer free admission for its first 10 years in the new location.
However, numerous civil suits filed with the Orange County Superior Court and U.S. District Court since June — including one in which Lugano is a plaintiff — accuse the Newport Beach jeweler of conducting illegal third-party sales that robbed wealthy individuals of their investments and were falsely recorded as company revenues, among other claims.
Jacobsen-Sive, the OCMA spokesperson, in an Aug. 14 email to the Daily Pilot claimed no knowledge of the legal proceedings but assured free admission at the museum would not be interrupted.
“The pledge made by Lugano Diamonds is current, and our goal remains to keep admission to the museum free,” she wrote.
Zuckerman declined to comment for this story.
