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# Arts endowment sends Jackson Browne to school
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/arts-endowment-sends-jackson-browne-to-school/
- Published: 2004-05-05T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T04:16:38.000Z
- Author: Carolyn Sackariason
- Tags: Education, Pier, #archive-import

*LOCAL Weekend fundraiser ‘For The Arts’to get festive on the Santa Monica Pier*

Arts education supporters are far from running on empty as they prepare for what they hope will be a $100,000 weekend when the legendary Jackson Browne takes center stage at Barnum Hall.

Browne, who lives in the area and has a nephew who attends John Adams Middle School, agreed to play at the Santa Monica High School theater on May 14 as part of a three-day fundraising event to pump money into arts education throughout the local school district.

Browne, who has been singing, song writing and producing albums since the 1960s, sits on the honorary committee for “For The Arts,” a campaign launched by local parents two years ago. For the Arts plans to create a $15 million endowment so programs in music, visual arts, dance and drama are in every school throughout the district. Since its inception, For the Arts has raised $1.5 million.

When the tickets for the Jackson Browne concert went on sale April 19, the $65 tickets sold out in six hours, said Linda Gross, executive director of the Education Foundation, a nonprofit organization that raises money for the school district and has teamed up with For The Arts. Gross added that 187 of the $250 tickets have been sold and 20 tickets for $1,000 have been put aside for those who want VIP treatment, including a chance to meet Browne, as well as attend a reception and live auction at the Santa Monica Pier Carousel before the benefit concert. The live auction will be moderated by the famous Christie’s Auction House and will be conducted by members of the TV show, “The West Wing.”

The concert and reception is the kickoff to an entire weekend of fundraising on the Santa Monica Pier for For The Arts. On Saturday and Sunday, there will be a free festival that will feature continuous music and performances by Santa Monica and Malibu students, as well as related workshops, art vendors, community nonprofit organizations and food provided by local restaurants. Vendors will donate a portion of their proceeds to the campaign.

The responsibility of an honorary member for For The Arts includes lending their name to the cause, a financial contribution and offering one thing to contribute outside of a financial commitment. Browne, who has been active in supporting the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District in the past, figured a benefit concert would be the perfect fit to kick off the weekend. His only stipulation was that part of the proceeds go directly to music programs within the district, Gross said. Browne will perform with a local band, Venice.

For The Arts focuses on raising money for four disciplines — music, drama, visual arts and dance. The endowment campaign was started by Santa Monica residents Carol and Greg Foote. When Carol Foote became a parent at Roosevelt Elementary and got involved in the PTA there, she noticed the disparities throughout the district in terms of what schools offered for arts education.

> “It’s sad that public schools have become a charity.” — Carol Foote said

> “It isn’t to give privileged kids more but to level the playing field,”

Some schools, which have students and parents who are more affluent, are able to raise more money than those across town. Although Santa Monica and Malibu are cities known for their affluence, there are plenty of poor students throughout the district. According to school officials, 31 percent of all families in Santa Monica have an average income under $22,500 and one third of students in the district qualify for free or reduced-fee lunches. What’s more, there is no district-funded choral music program at the elementary level, or funding for visual arts, dance, drama and music in the elementary schools.

The Education Foundation, which was created in 1982 to preserve, support and enhance programs within the school district, is working with For The Arts to ensure the campaign continues for years to come, Gross said. The foundation has raised $1 million for a literacy endowment and raises $100,000 annually. Every year, the foundation gives $35,000 in grants to teachers for special projects so they can buy supplies and other tools to educate their students, Gross said. And while there are 75 people directly involved in the endowment campaign and hundreds of donors, Gross said it would have never gotten off the ground if the Footes hadn’t started the effort.

“Carol and Greg have been the driving force with this endowment,” she said, adding it will create an ongoing funding source to ensure that children in all socioeconomic classes get artistic education. “It’s forever, it’s not raise and spend.”

Beyond fundraising events — For The Arts raised $165,000 last year during an arts auction — there are hundreds of people who have contributed to the cause over the past two years. But more effort needs to be put into individual fundrais-ing, Foote said.

“We are getting them to use their own lists to find other contributors,” Foote said. “There are very generous people here, they just need to know about us.”

Foote and others believe that there is no reason children should go without a full education when surrounded by so much wealth.

“It’s so great to use this wealth to benefit so many people,” Foote said, adding that there are plenty of people not yet tapped. “With your tax cut, we know what you can do.”

The Jackson Browne concert begins at 8:30 p.m. and is scheduled to go until 11:30 p.m. The VIP reception will begin at 5:30 p.m. and will last until 8 p.m. VIP guests will be transported to Samohi campus for the show. There are still tickets available for the concert in the 991-seat Barnum Hall. Those interested can call (310) 396-4557\. The festival, which is sponsored by the Santa Monica Pier Restoration Corp., which manages the pier, will begin at 11 a.m. and run until 5 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/050504-02_01.jpg)

musician Jackson Browne led a rally in front of City Hall last June to ask local politicians to give more money to the school district. (Photo: File photo Legendary)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 5, 2004.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/050504.pdf?ref=smdp.com)