He has led O.C.’s leading arts advocacy organization since 2008.
Richard Stein, longtime president and CEO of Arts Orange County, will leave the position on July 1. Stein has led Orange County’s principal advocate and service provider for the arts and arts education since 2008.
Stein will be succeeded by Patrick Brien, currently vice president and chief operating officer for Arts Orange County. Before coming to Arts OC in 2022, Brien was executive director of the Riverside Arts Council for nearly 17 years. Stein will remain with Arts Orange County as a senior advisor through June 30, 2026.
In an interview with Culture OC, Stein, 71, said the transition has been in the planning stages for a long time.
“The process began midway through my tenure. I felt we really needed to plan this and make sure the transition was carefully executed. The old saying goes, ‘Man makes plans and God laughs.’” Stein told his executive committee last summer that he wanted this to be his last year at the helm.
Stein said Brien was an obvious choice for the position. “When I was able to persuade Patrick to come on board here, we’d already worked together as colleagues. It really was the perfect solution because of his previous experience running an arts council. In the past two-and-a-half years here, he’s been able to take on more and more and really learn our operation and take a leadership role.”
Serving in an advisory capacity after July 1 was a crucial part of the transition plan. Stein said.
“My best value to the organization is the network of people I know and my ability to connect Arts Orange County to elected officials and prospective consulting clients for the work we do. In the public art management sphere, the organization has lots of things in the pipeline and I want to make sure the pipeline continues to fill up.”
Stein led his nonprofit organization through two difficult periods, the 2008 financial crisis and the pandemic. “The recession was the harder thing to survive because (we were) a small organization at the time and the business model that we have developed since then was not yet in place. It was a difficult time; there were layoffs and salary cuts.
“By the time of the pandemic our business model had evolved and we had much greater stability in terms of revenue. And, of course, there were pandemic relief funds that we were able to access, which helped.”
Orange County’s arts landscape has changed profoundly since Stein arrived more than 40 years ago to help run the Laguna Playhouse, Stein said.
“More and more artists are calling Orange County home. There’s always a question of sustaining new arts organizations and I think the intrepid founders of some of these groups who are savvy and work hard are going to find success; there also will be many that don’t. It’s part of the continuing evolution of the arts ecology of Orange County.”
Stein said the local arts scene is generally healthy, although there are areas of concern.
“The major institutions are on pretty solid ground, although theater is still struggling to find audiences. But in other areas of the performing arts, (there’s) a mini-boomlet. Concert-going is up in all genres. The concert halls are filled for performances and people are still hungry for the live performance experience. That’s very encouraging.”
Brien praised Stein’s leadership and said his meticulous planning would make the transition of leadership much easier.
“Never have I seen anyone make the sort of impact upon their community as the one Rick Stein has made here in Orange County,” Brien said. “But that’s exactly what he did over the course of his tenure at Laguna Playhouse. Great leaders have a way of doing that.
“Make no mistake, (Rick’s) are big shoes to fill,” Brien continued. “But that’s what we do as arts leaders, isn’t it? Accept and embrace challenge. Many thanks to Rick, and here’s to our continuing to work together in the future.”
Richard Stein is a member of the advisory board for Culture OC.
