OCMA and UCI Langson Merger Finalized

According to UC Irvine spokesperson Mike Uhlenkamp, “As of today, we are one.”

UCI is now running the Orange County Museum of Art. Image by Heide Janssen, Culture OC

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The Orange County Museum of Art has a new name and new management.

In an agreement, announced on June 10 and finalized today, the University of California Irvine will take over administration and operating costs for the troubled museum, which this year has weathered the departure of its CEO and director, Heidi Zuckerman, and the resignation of several board members. 

UCI’s acquisition of the 63-year-old museum will result in a new name for the amalgamated institution: the UC Irvine Langson Orange County Museum of Art. Moving forward, the 53,000-square-foot space will showcase UC Irvine’s Gerald Buck Collection and Irvine Museum Collection. Its combined collection will number more than 9,000 works of art.

“The agreement is in effect immediately, but there is a transition period,” said UC Irvine spokesperson Mike Uhlenkamp. “The current museum we have at UCI is in a rented space. And OCMA has programming (planned) until next year. But as of today, we are one.”

The exterior of the Orange County Museum of Art. Photo courtesy of UCI/Yubo Dong

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A national search will be conducted for a new director for the museum. In the meantime, the combined museums will be run by Rich Aste, who has been the interim director of UC Irvine’s Jack and Shanaz Langson Institute and Museum of California Art since May 2024. Uhlenkamp said that a new director should be in place by early 2026.

The OCMA-UCI agreement didn’t involve a purchase transaction, but the university will assume all operating costs as well as governance duties, Uhlenkamp said. Current OCMA employees are now employees of the university. 

OCMA’s Board of Trustees, which included some of Orange County’s most influential philanthropists and prominent members of the business community, has been disbanded as part of the new agreement. “The existing structure for OCMA no longer exists,” Uhlenkamp said. “It is now an entity that is part of the University of California. If you were a board member, you are no longer a board member.”

Perhaps the best news to be included in today’s announcement, at least for regular patrons of OCMA: the University of California will continue the museum’s free admission policy for the forseeable future. “We have no plans to change free admission for the time being,” Uhlenkamp said.

OCMA had offered free admission for its first 10 years of operation, made possible by a donation from Lugano Diamonds, a Newport Beach company. This policy started in October 2022 with the opening of the new museum facility in Costa Mesa. But that policy appeared to be jeopardized by a scandal involving the company’s founder, Moti Ferder.

Both museums will continue their planned programming through 2026 as a unified identity takes shape. A transitional landing page will guide visitors to both institutions’ websites.

UC Irvine Chancellor Howard Gillman hailed the merger as a new chapter for the visual arts in Orange County. “UC Irvine is committed to ensuring that the region benefits from a world-class art museum that enriches the cultural fabric of Orange County, advances groundbreaking scholarship, nurtures the next generation of creators and thinkers, and inspires curiosity and connection across diverse audiences.”