Joan Van Hooten recently served as the Executive Director of the Public Corporation for the Arts, dba Arts Council for Long Beach.  Ms. Van Hooten has twenty-five years experience in nonprofit arts management, fund development, and marketing at visual and performing arts organizations throughout Southern California.  She held the position of Director of Development at Long Beach Museum of Art and Orange County Museum of Art and served as founding Director of Major and Planned Giving at Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Her particular skills include community relations, strategic planning, budget planning and management, board and volunteer development, and staff management. She has a proven track record in initiating successful annual fund development efforts, planned giving programs, and planning and implementing capital and endowment campaigns. 

While at LACMA, Ms. Van Hooten facilitated a $9 million campaign to refurbish the grounds of the museum, began a deferred giving program, and developed strategies leading to the acquisition of two significant collections to expand the museum’s holdings.  At OCMA she implemented a portion of a campaign to double the space of the museum and triple its endowment, hiring a department of 8 people to raise $3 million of a $3.5 million institutional budget.  In addition, Ms. Van Hooten initiated and supervised marketing and public relations departments at LBMA and OCMA.  As Director of Development for San Diego County for the University of Southern California, she worked independently with four USC trustees and area alumnae to establish the first development effort in this region.

In her most recent position as Executive Director of the Arts Council for Long Beach, Ms. Van Hooten managed the daily operation of the organization.  She initiated a comprehensive, successful effort to match City of Long Beach financial contributions to artists and arts and cultural organizations.  At the Arts Council, she contributed to the strategic planning process, board development, budget management, staff communication, and relationships with community, arts, education, and political leadership.  She has been a member of two Mayor-appointed Community Arts Funding Task Force to recommend public funding strategies for the arts in Long Beach and initiated an endowment to support Folk and Traditional artists in Long Beach.

Ms. Van Hooten’s leadership ability enables her to work effectively with various community constituents to guide organizations undergoing change and growth.  Her tenure at LACMA was during a period when the museum was without a director; her arrival at OCMA coincided with the merger of two area museums to form the Orange County Museum of Art.  In recent years, the Long Beach arts community has suffered serious financial setbacks due to reduced public funding. These experiences enabled her to acquire skills reserved for the highest level of institutional administrators.

Ms. Van Hooten’s knowledge of and commitment to arts and education inform her professional and personal accomplishments.  In addition to a career in K-12 education, she has taught art history at colleges including Art Center College of Design, Marymount College, and Long Beach City College.  She was curator of an exhibition Lorser Feitelson: Artist-Teacher at Long Beach City College Art Gallery and author of the book Antique Shopping in Southern California, a 250-page guide for collectors.   Ms. Van Hooten has juried visual arts exhibitions in the Long Beach area, studied studio art at the college level and oil painting with Ralph Hasenbein and Betty Anne Stuart Kirkpatrick, and exhibited her paintings regionally..

Ms. Van Hooten earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with honors from University of Redlands; a Master of Arts degree in California history from Occidental College; and a second Master of Arts degree in art history from California State University, Long Beach.  She has served on board of directors of the Long Beach Historical Society, the Art Exchange, and the Salvation Army.  Married to an artist and arts educator, she has two grown sons and spends her personal time with family, friends, and enjoying the arts.