Check out the blow-up over the merger of the Laguna Art Museum with
the Newport Harbor Art Museum to form the Orange County Museum of
Art at <http://www.coolsville.com/lamp>. Observe the divisive fighting
over issues of local control, the role of shrinking corporate dollars
in the intense competition for resources, and the debate over the value
of consolidation of smaller museums into regional art institutions.

While there, enjoy the art of Roark Gourley and others, take a look
at Coolsville, and preview the Festival of the Arts and the Sawdust
Festival.

The issues engaged here are a microcosm of the difficulties affecting
all non-profits in an era of tight budgets. There are also some lessons
to be learned on how to better manage the merger of organizations that
have loyal and highly articulate memberships that don't take lightly to
being ignored by the managers and trustees.

The purpose of the web page is to act as a community information resource
to both help bridge the gap between the opposing factions and to demonstrate
the utility of interactive web-based technologies in a civic environment.
This has significant implications for all of you in the non-profit, high
visibility arena.

Hank Meyer
[log in to unmask]
Executive Producer
Chameleon Interactive Media
Laguna Beach, CA 92651 USA

"If you push something hard enough, it will fall over."

 - Fudd's First Law of Opposition