Broads create $10 million endowment for SMC Performing Arts Center

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A light moment is shared at the press conference announcing the $10 million gift from Eli and Edythe Broad for an operating endowment at the Santa Monica College Performing Arts Center. From left: SMC President Dr. Chui L. Tsang; Dale Franzen, artistic director of The Eli and Edythe Broad Stage and The Edye Second Space at the SMC Performing Arts Center; philanthropist Eli Broad and actor Dustin Hoffman, SMC alumnus and chair of The Broad Stage's artistic advisory board. Photo by Robert Millard

Eli and Edythe Broad last week announced they have given $10 million to create an endowment for programming and arts education at the new Santa Monica College Performing Arts Center.

In honor of the gift from The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, the new modernist steel, stone, glass and wood performing arts center will be named The Broad Stage and The Edye Second Space.

The Broad Stage, which will open on Sept. 20, is a 499-seat theater designed to present renowned artists and world-class operas, symphonies, musicals, dance companies, film and theater, under the leadership of artistic director Dale Franzen, according to SMC. The Broad Stage and The Edye Second Space will also provide programming, master classes and special events for the public as well as for students.

“Los Angeles is one of the world’s cultural and artistic centers, with world-class museums, theater, opera and symphony,” Eli Broad said at a press conference outside the new Broad Stage in Santa Monica. “We have the Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles, and now the Westside will have its own premiere performing arts venue. We need to ensure the sustainability of our city’s cultural offerings, and this endowment will enable The Broad Stage to have the necessary resources to maintain first-rate performances for the public.”