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Many of you have heard me speak on numerous occasions about how Los Angeles is one of the four great cultural capitals of the world. We have one of the world’s best opera companies under the direction of Placido Domingo, we have more theatrical productions than New York or London, and we have a renowned group of resident artists.

Our visual arts institutions are unrivaled. We just had a terrific opening of the Broad Contemporary Art Museum at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. During BCAM’s opening week alone, we had nearly 62,000 visitors from Los Angeles and around the world. On the Westside, we have the two important Getty venues and the Hammer Museum.

Our cultural offerings in the visual and performing arts are attracting national and international attention. Everyone knows Los Angeles has great weather and Hollywood and Disneyland. But now they realize that we are one of the major cultural centers in the world.

I’ve focused much of my energy in recent years on downtown Los Angeles. I believe that our region needs a vibrant center. A few years ago, I worked with former Mayor Dick Riordan to make the Walt Disney Concert Hall a reality. That has become a symbol for Los Angeles. It’s a great piece of architecture, and it’s one of the finest symphony halls in the world.

So why are we here today in Santa Monica?

My wife, Edye, loves all of the performing arts. She goes to the theater, opera or symphony two or three times a week. I enjoy the performances, as well, but I don’t go as often. I’m a big arts and cultural champion because I know how important it is to our region’s economy and image.

About six years ago, we were at a dinner party at the home of Piedad Robertson, who at the time was president of Santa Monica College. Dale Franzen was at that dinner, and so were Dustin and Lisa Hoffman. And we started talking about a performing arts center in Santa Monica and how great it would be to have a first-rate facility on the Westside to showcase all of the performing arts – theater, dance, music and solo performers.

There is always a lot of wishing and dreaming during dinner conversations. Edye and I didn’t think about that conversation until last year when we saw this amazing theater under construction. I got a call from Dale, who reminded me of that dinner six years ago.

Dale had worked with Santa Monica College to raise the money and pass several bond issues to build this theater. They then worked with a talented local architect, Renzo Zecchetto, and Dale called on many of her artistic contacts, like Dustin Hoffman and Placido Domingo to draw on their expertise as artists and performers and design a theater and a stage that would be state-of-the art and would be attractive not only for audiences but also for artists.

And when Edye and I saw this theater and we heard how steadily Dale had persisted in pursuing her dream of creating a world-class theater in Santa Monica, we knew we should get involved.

Usually, our involvement comes in the early stages of a project, before a building is built. But this time, the building was already well underway, and so I told Dale we wanted to ensure that this new performing arts center would have the resources for first-rate performances.

I am pleased to announce that the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation is creating a $10 million endowment for programming and arts education at this new performing arts center.

For more than 40 years, Edye and I have enjoyed the many cultural offerings our city has to offer. This city has been good to us, and we believe we have an obligation to give back, to help make our city even better for future generations. This gift will help sustain and grow the artistic programming of this new performing arts center.

I know you will hear more about the inaugural season of the performing arts center shortly. We have great confidence in Dale and in the artistic counsel of Dustin Hoffman, as they work to build many future seasons with a variety of performances and artists.

The Los Angeles area is home to so many great arts institutions, and now it will be home to the premiere performing arts center on the Westside. We are fortunate to live in a region that is big enough to have not only a major cultural center in downtown Los Angeles but also great regional centers like Santa Monica and the Westside.

We live in Brentwood, and it’s no secret that it takes well over an hour in traffic to get downtown for an evening performance. And once you get downtown, the parking situation is challenging, to say the least. So we’re looking forward to having a world-class theater with plenty of parking and quality programming right here in our own backyard.

I want to congratulate Dale, Dustin and the Santa Monica College board for their vision. We are delighted to be a part of this new premiere performing arts center.

Thank you.

"The Los Angeles area is home to so many great arts institutions, and now it will be home to the premiere performing arts center on the Westside."

"We’re looking forward to having a world-class theater with plenty of parking and quality programming right here in our own backyard."