ART

Art Appointments: Kathleen Whitaker, a specialist on Navajo textiles, is the new chief curator at the Southwest Museum. Whitaker, who was the museum’s assistant curator of anthropology from 1969-75, also has been chief curator at the San Diego Museum of Man and assistant professor of anthropology at Cal State San Bernardino. . . . San Francisco artist Ned Kahn will collaborate with architects on the $3.5-million restoration of the Ventura Pier, scheduled for completion in June, 1992.