Museum director succumbs to cancer

Young Chang

NEWPORT BEACH -- Naomi Vine, admired as an arts professional who was

satisfied only by the most exquisite works and whose steadfastness helped

form the Orange County Museum of Art, has died after a battle with

cancer. She was 52.

Those who knew her slightly more than just professionally remember

that the late museum director loved horses; trekking through the

less-traveled corners of the outdoors; and her 11-year-old son, Victor, a

young Cambodian boy she adopted three years ago.

Museum co-workers say they saw a new side of the ever-professional

Vine when she first dove into motherhood. Once in a very rare while, she

would apologize for having to leave work early. It was always for Victor

-- to pick him up, to participate in a school function.

Vine, who underwent surgery for a melanoma tumor in her brain in

September, died Monday at her Long Beach home.

“We were just so lucky to have her,” said Charles Martin, director

emeritus of the museum’s board. “She’s probably the most competent art

museum director on the planet. She had both the excellence in the

artistic side, as well as the good solid foundation in the business

management side.”

Brian Langston, spokesman at the Orange County Museum of Art, said

Vine’s passing is “unspeakably sad” and that her marks on the museum will

remain indelible.

“Her intelligence and professionalism and perseverance is a large part

of why the museum exists as it does today,” Langston said. “We, in some

sense, owe our existence to her perseverance and intelligence.”

When asked about Vine’s personality as a director, most of her

co-workers brought up the contested merger between the Laguna and Newport

Harbor art museums five years ago. There were disagreements and even

lawsuits when the two institutions joined. Board members say Vine, who

held a doctorate in art history from the University of Chicago and a

master’s degree from Emory University, persevered until the museum was

realized.

“Any lesser person would not have stood up to that,” Martin said.

“During contested times, people are critical of you and you just have to

do what’s right. And she did.”

Tony DeLap, a Newport Beach artist whose retrospective exhibit was

hung at the museum earlier this year, said he is grateful for Vine’s

enthusiasm. Much of DeLap’s work deals with illusions and the mixing of

sculptures and paintings.

In her forward for the exhibit’s catalog, DeLap remembers that Vine

discussed “the idea and power of illusion restoring faith in the

possibility of the unknowable.”

“I will remember her for things that are knowable,” DeLap said. “Her

enthusiasm for and generous support of the exhibition, her sensitivity to

the concerns of the contemporary artist and her personal friendship

throughout our association.”

Before the Seattle native began her medical leave in September

following a cerebral hemorrhage that eventually led to surgery, Vine also

tracked down Elizabeth Armstrong to serve as acting director and chief

curator in her absence.

“Naomi’s legacy lives on through Liz Armstrong and [curator] Irene

Hoffman,” said Laurie Mendenhall, an arts journalist for Coast Magazine

who knew Vine well. “For Naomi, it was important that the museum find the

right match.”

Armstrong, who has been juggling both curatorial and administrative

duties since Vine left in the fall, will continue as the acting director.

Langston said that at this point, he is not aware of any changes that

will be made on the staff.

“The museum is an institution that’s made up of a lot of people, and

while Naomi’s loss is tragic for everybody concerned, I’m sure that all

of us who remain here will just redouble our efforts to make this

institution that Naomi loved . . . to keep it strong and healthy.”

Mendenhall remembers the more personal, equestrian side of Vine.

“She got great warmth and compassion from riding horses,” the

journalist said. “She had a horse named Rosie. She used to ride really

early in the mornings in the bluffs above the Back Bay.”

Rosie was a brown horse with a blond tail and mane. Langston remembers

when Vine and Rosie took a bad fall five years ago and Vine insisted that

the accident was her fault, not Rosie’s.

“And she was really just entering a new epoch of her life with the

adoption of her son,” Langston added.

Memorial arrangements are pending, but Langston said a service for

family and friends will probably be held in mid-January in Long Beach. In

addition to her son, Victor, Vine is survived by her husband, Albert

Milano.