Singers and songwriters perform benefit concert to support For the Arts endowment fund benefiting local schools.
By Jerry Pappas / Special to The Malibu Times
Singers-songwriters Jackson Browne and David Crosby, international recording artists Venice, and multiGrammy award winning composer David Campbell are all slated to perform June 2 to help raise funds benefiting the nonprofit organization, For the Arts, which funds art programs within the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District.
Additionally, students from local Santa Monica schools will join these artists on stage “providing an opportunity for the community to see what the children in their district can do,” For the Arts volunteer Jayme Mechur said.
For the Arts is an endowment campaign that was created by the Education Foundation of Santa Monica and Malibu “to promote and fund, in perpetuity, arts education in music, visual arts, dance and drama in our public schools,” said Linda Gross, executive director for the SMMEF.
The Santa Monica and Malibu communities have rallied behind For the Arts, including educators, school administrators, citizens, business professionals and political leaders, to ensure that local students’ education is supplemented with classes in the arts indefinitely.
Dianne Talarico, superintendent of SMMUSD, champions For the Arts as well. “Integrating fine arts into the daily curriculum addresses the student as a whole by allowing time for creativity and self-expression,” Talarico said. “The arts also provide students with a hands-on perspective into various cultures and our own histories. Without the arts, information would lack context; participation in the arts engages students in learning across content areas and enriches their learning experiences.”
The fiscal goal of For the Arts is to raise $5 million; once the money has been raised, it is anticipated that the endowment will generate $250,000 annually. The organization has successfully raised $2 million to date.
The group Venice has been rehearsing with the Santa Monica students during their music class in anticipation of the event.
Venice band member Kipp Lennon said, “[This year’s concert] will definitely include a lot of student musicians playing with us, David [Crosby] and Jackson [Browne]. That’s one of the main things that make these shows so unique and so much fun and different from any other fundraiser. The student musicians get up on that stage and play and show how talented they are. They are just such a perfect example of what we need to preserve and promote in schools; it’s amazing, a real honor to be a part of, and a blast.”
The venue for this year’s show is at the newly renovated historic Barnum Hall Theatre on the Santa Monica High School Campus, 601 Pico Blvd. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., the show starts at 8 p.m. Limited tickets are still available and may be purchased by calling 310.396.4557.