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# Music to their ears: Arts festival kicks off today
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/music-to-their-ears-arts-festival-kicks-off-today/
- Published: 2004-05-14T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-25T00:03:11.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Entertainment, Pier, #archive-import

*Festival, concert to raise money for SM schools*

*By Daily Press staff*

SM PIER — Today is the kickoff of two and a half days of arts and music — highlighted by legendary musician Jackson Browne — to raise money for local schools.

The free weekend festival, “Celebration For The Arts 2004,” will be held at the Santa Monica Pier. Organizers hope to raise $100,000, which will be put toward a larger, $15 million fund-raising campaign.

“For The Arts” is 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.

The weekend’s festivities begin with a VIP reception and live auction at the pier carousel at 5:30 p.m. The reception will feature a live auction conducted by members from the cast of Emmy Award winning show, “The West Wing.” At 8:30 p.m., Browne will perform with a band called Venice at Barnum Hall on the Santa Monica High School Campus. Browne lives in the area, is a member of the For The Arts Honorary Committee and has a nephew who attends John Adams Middle School.

Then on Saturday and Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., a variety of festivities will take place on the pier — everything from live musical performances by local students to arts and crafts activities and art vendors selling their wares. Vendors will give a portion of their sales to For The Arts. There will be plenty of food at the festival provided by local restaurants, which also will donate a portion of their sales to the cause.

Tickets are still available for the Jackson Browne concert. There are three levels of ticket prices — $65, $250 and $1,000, which includes the VIP reception. Call (310) 396-6727 for more information.

The arts and crafts tables include: Card making by Cards by Kids Art, Inc.; paper mosaics; bookmarks; floral pens; Fimo clay bugs; and “Suzi Poo.”

Art vendors include: ■ Wendy Donnelly, Teeny Tee’s & Maggie Mora — Zen to go Infant hand-painted T-shirts. Toddler art smocks. Meditation alters. ■ Moonlite Gifts & Accessories Vintage hand-beaded, hand-embroidered bags. Vintage Saree’s as skirts. Beaded, embroidered shawls. Beaded, handmade sandals. ■ Kate Stern Custom photo decanters, vases and tiles; books. A collection of items made from vintage postcard images, gift tags, cards, plaques and boxes. ■ Liz Marx Hand-blown glass bowls, vases, etc. Cast jewelry and cast glass decorative pieces. ■ Amy Kivnick High fired stone pottery, wheel thrown and handbuilt. ■ Exotic Butterflies & Insects of the World Farm-raised butterflies and insects in frames of all media and sizes, specializing in free-form large mural arts. ■ Ruth San Pietro Handmade cast paper and acrylic sculptural paintings, fabric. One-of-a-kind tote bags with original paintings.

Community nonprofit organizations that will be on hand include: ■ American Academy for Dance and Kindred Arts The American Academy for Dance and Kindred Arts is a nonprofit, artistic, educational organization dedicated to providing quality instruction in dance and the related arts. Classes are offered in ballet, jazz, flamenco, creative movement, voice, theatre and visual arts. The goal of the Academy is to further the individual development of each student who trains there. ■ Chance to Dance Chance To Dance is a nonprofit that provides creative and therapeutic dance classes for dancers of all ages and abilities. Chance To Dance is based in Santa Monica. ■ Creative , a not-for-profit arts organization, develops and performs interactive, literature-based theatre for family audiences. Started by co-artistic directors Karen Hardcastle and Elizabeth Tobias and utilizing the talents of a diverse company of professional performers and educators, Creative PlayGround is committed to bringing to life the stories of many cultures for children of all ages and backgrounds. ■ Santa Monica Playhouse Now in its 42nd year, the Santa Monica Playhouse provides theatre entertainment and theatre-related workshops to the Los Angeles area and throughout the world. ■ Center for the Study of Political Graphics With more than 50,000 posters, the Center for the Study of Political Graphics archive is the largest collection of Post World War II graphics in the United States. The CSPG collects, preserves and exhibits posters relating to historical and contemporary movements for social change. Through its varied programs, CSPG is reclaiming the power of art to inspire people to action. ■ Santa Monica Civic Light Opera The Santa Monica Civic Light Opera serves as an education partner to Santa Monica High School’s Theatre Arts department and operates as a not-for profit professional theatre company that unites the high school’s aspiring alumni actors and community performers on the Barnum Hall and Humanities Center stages. Operating on the Santa Monica High School campus and in cooperation with students from Santa Monica High School, the SMCLO’s new role as a community arts organization since the completion of Barnum Hall is not only to foster the development of theatre alumni but also bring together arts and audiences within an already culturally rich community. ■ Kids on Stage Kids On Stage, Inc. is a theater and video arts program that develops creativity, self expression and social consciousness through artistic media. It inspires players to discover their own unique voices while building valuable skills that extend to all facets of life.

Food will be provided by: ■ Britannia Pub, 318 Santa Monica Blvd.

Fish and chips. ■ Fritto Misto, 601 Colorado Blvd.

Pasta salads, caesar salads and dessert. ■ Pradeeps, 1405 Montana Ave.; 517 Washington Blvd. in Marina del Rey Traditional Indian cuisine. ■ Johnnie’s Pizza, 1466 3rd Street Promenade Pizza slices. ■ Panda Express, 804 Montana Ave.

Mandarin chicken bowl, orange chicken bowl. ■ Acadie Handcrafted Crepes, 213 Arizona Ave.

Sweet dessert crepes. ■ Jamba Juice, 304 Santa Monica Blvd.

Assorted fruit smoothies.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 14, 2004.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/051404.pdf?ref=smdp.com)