COSTA MESA, CA.- The Orange County Museum of Art announced today the addition of eight new trustees: Barbara Bluhm-Kaul, Phillip J. Bond, Idit Ferder, Sean Green, Linda P. Maggard, Cheryl Kiddoo, Robert Olson and Lucy Sun. They have joined the board under the leadership of CEO and Director Heidi Zuckerman, who came to OCMA in February 2021. In October 2022, the museum will open in its new home: a building at Segerstrom Center for the Arts designed by Morphosis under the direction of Pritzker Prize-winning architect Thom Mayne and Partner-in-Charge Brandon Welling.
The new trustees bring a range of philanthropic and professional expertise that will add fresh perspectives to the museum as the institution enters a new era. A long-time champion of Southern California’s most adventurous artists, with a reputation that resonates far beyond the region, OCMA is now doubling in size with its new building, enabling it to show its important and distinctive collection and thought-provoking temporary exhibitions at the same time, while engaging more actively than ever before with the dynamic and fast-growing community around it.
The OCMA Board of Trustees is the museum’s governing body; the addition of Bluhm-Kaul, Bond, Ferder, Green, Kiddoo, Maggard, Olson and Sun brings the total number of board members to 32. OCMA’s mission is to enrich the lives of a diverse and changing community through modern and contemporary art.
“As we grow closer to celebrating OCMA’s 60th anniversary and opening our new home in 2022, we are grateful for the fresh energy and enthusiasm of our new trustees, who will help us to honor the institution’s past and forge this new era for the museum within the community and on the world stage,” shared Craig W. Wells, President, OCMA Board of Trustees.
“Since OCMA’s founding by a board of 13 women in 1962, the museum has been fortunate to have the guidance and leadership of passionate community members supporting the arts,” said Heidi Zuckerman, OCMA CEO and Director. “It has been an honor to take the helm at OCMA at this exciting time and build upon all the great work by the current trustees, who have brought us so far. The new trustees add an investment to our museum in the form of diverse voices at the table.”
The New Trustees
Barbara Bluhm-Kaul
A lifelong art patron, philanthropist and volunteer, Barbara and her husband Don Kaul are annually named in ARTnews’s Top 200 Collectors in the World. She was a longtime trustee and is now a life trustee of the Art Institute of Chicago and served as a docent educator there for more than 35 years. Barbara is also a trustee of the Aspen Art Museum. In addition to dedicating herself to art institutions, Barbara has been actively involved in political and women’s issues for many years. From 2010 to 2015 she served as a member of the State Department’s Cultural Property Advisory Committee. Barbara and her husband live in Laguna Beach, Chicago, and Aspen.
Phillip J. Bond
Phillip J. Bond has more than 25 years’ experience in banking, with an emphasis on lending at community banks. As Farmers & Merchants Bank’s chief credit officer, he is actively involved in all aspects of the bank’s lending functions. Prior to joining F & M, he served as the chief credit officer for two other local community banks. He started his career as a bank examiner with the FDIC in Dallas, Texas. Phillip graduated with a BA in Business Administration from the University of Texas, Austin. In May 2000, he earned an MBA at UCLA Anderson Graduate School of Business. He has been involved as a board member of various non-profit organizations and with his wife Valerie lives in Long Beach, CA with their three children.
Idit Ferder
Idit Finzi Ferder is cofounder of the luxury brand Lugano Diamonds. In her role as COO, she oversees all operations company-wide and designs and builds all new Lugano’s locations. She has served as a board member at Jewish Federation & Family Services Women’s Philanthropy organization and chaired the Israeli Expo, one of OC’s largest events, for nine years. Idit is also passionately involved in Tikkun Olam Makers (TOM), an organization working to provide low-income communities worldwide with technological solutions and access to an economic accelerator aimed at self-funding new programs. She has a degree in Political Science and English Literature from Tel Aviv University as well as advanced degrees in American Law, American History, Human Resources, and Mediation. Idit is also a Society of Fellows member at the Aspen Institute.
Sean Green
Born in Jamaica and raised in Toronto, Sean Green holds a BA in Computer Science from York University. Since graduating in 2011, he has been active as an entrepreneur, whose instincts have led him to the business of art. Based in Los Angeles, Sean oversees all aspects of the evolution of ARTERNAL, which he and his partners co-founded in 2015 as the first technology company to focus exclusively on bringing Client Relationship Management (CRM) technology to the art world.
Cheryl Kiddoo
A California native, Cheryl Kiddoo has devoted the last thirty years to supporting cultural institutions. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from UCLA and Master’s Degree in Museum Education from the College of William and Mary that helped to launch a career as the Curator of Education at the San Jose Museum of Art, where she developed life-long learning programs introducing students and adults to the wonder and magic of the visual arts, and worked to ignite deeply thoughtful discourse about the issues of our times. For the past nine years, Cheryl has been a trustee at the San Jose Museum of Art, serving in a range of capacities including chair of the Council of 100 donor group, co-chair of two Gala fundraisers, and as a member of the Strategic Task Force. As co-president of SJMA’s Board from 2017 - 2020, Cheryl’s efforts elevated SJMA’s Board and major patron groups to support an ambitious and historic 50th anniversary season, the launch of a Strategic Plan, and to sustain the Museum and maintain its full-time staff during the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Linda P. Maggard
Originally from Lexington, Kentucky, Linda graduated from Sweet Briar College in Virginia, earning a BS in Economics and graduating Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude. She married and came to California in 1984, raising her family in Corona del Mar, where she resides today. In the late 1990s she discovered her passion for art, returning to school to study Art History at CSULB, where she became a board member at the University Art Museum from 1999 until 2007. Linda joined the Board of Visionaries, OCMA’s largest support group, serving from 1996 to 2014. She served as president from 2010 to 2012 and is a Visionaries Lifetime Member. An avid collector of contemporary art, Linda has been a longtime member of Fellows of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, where she served as Chair from 2015 to 2017. Linda is currently a board member of the Contemporary Collectors of Orange County, a member of Curators Circle of LACMA, Hammer Museum, Fowler Museum, MOCA, Laguna Art Museum, MoMA, The New Museum and more. With Alison Beaumont Hoeven, Linda is co-chairing the campaign for the Visionaries’ support of the new museum.
Robert Olson
Robert Olson is the founder of R.D. Olson Development, a Newport Beach, California-based firm engaged in the development and re-positioning of commercial properties nationwide. He established the company in 1997 following nearly 20 years as founder and CEO of R.D. Olson Construction. Robert was the 2016 Robert Mondavi Wine & Food Award winner. He has also been the recipient of Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year award, Construction Financial Management Association’s Construction Executive of the Year award and the Orange County Business Journal’s Excellence in Entrepreneurship award. He was recognized as a 2012 Hotel Icon by Real Estate FORUM magazine and is a frequent speaker at leading industry events. An active member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO), including having served as Chairman of the California Coast Chapter, he also serves on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the Orange County Chapter of the American Red Cross. He is an MBA graduate of the University of Southern California.
Lucy Sun
Lucy Sun is a former Managing Director of Goldman Sachs and worked in the firm’s Equity Division in New York and London for over two decades. A graduate of Vassar College, she also holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, as well as an MA in art and archaeology from the University of London. Lucy has served three terms as a trustee of Vassar College (2000-2012) and was a trustee and Co-Chair of the Board of Trustees at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. In 2014 Lucy was appointed by Mayor Ed Lee to be a Commissioner of Asian Art for the City of SF. She and her husband Warren Felson have owned a home in Orange County for 20 years, while living full time in London and San Francisco, respectively, and moved their primary residence to Newport Coast in 2019.
