Life Through Art Foundation throws Red Party to raise funds for students
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Throwing a party and inviting the cast of Friends as well as George Clooney is one way to have a memorable evening.
For Traverse City resident Sarah Hampton, it is just another step in her vision of helping young artists pursue their passions.
By creating a glittering Hollywood party - called The Red Party, officially - on Saturday, December 13, Hampton hopes to boost funding for the Life Through Art Foundation she helped found three years ago. The national organization is headquartered in Traverse City, reaping lower overhead costs and reduced taxes; co-founder Jeffrey Brooks is based in Los Angeles.
The nonprofit foundation's mission is to financially assist young students of the arts who could not otherwise pursue their interest. Studies in theater arts, visual arts, music, creative writing, dance, film studies and the culinary arts qualify and students may receive assistance to defray costs of school tuition, private lessons or equipment or supplies.
Having been immersed in the arts throughout her school career at private schools in the Detroit area, Hampton knows how much this nurturing has benefited her. From voice to music to theater, she delved deeply into these subjects before heading to college at New York University.
"Both Jeffrey and I were given experiences as a kid, experiences that others didn't have," said Hampton, a graduate of Cranbrook Upper School in Bloomfield Hills and recipient of a Bachelor's of Fine Arts from NYU.
Her effort to lure big names to bring their names, talent and money to the event has been helped by the cause: successful actors, writers and producers were once budding artists themselves. They have a natural sympathy for helping out others in the same position.
"When you get to the level that a lot of these actors have, at one point or another, whether a school or a teacher, someone gave them confidence, encouragement," Hampton said. "They want to give something back."
"We are lucky to have the Hollywood community involved in this, those are the people with the dollars," she said, hoping that the party generates the 'buzz' that will make it a successful annual event.
Throwing a big-name party at a donated estate that rents for $40,000 while attracting A-list attendees is just another step in Life Through Art Foundation's unusual evolution.
Hampton and Brooks actually began their endeavor by having a student to fund before they even had a program.
They learned of an outstanding theater student from the Los Angeles public schools who qualified for extensive assistance from Interlochen Arts Academy. However, the scholarship this student received was not enough to cover all costs so she could not attend.
Hampton, who worked for three years in the Admissions Office at the academy, became aware of the dearth of funds for elementary age through high school artists while researching additional funding for this student. So she and Brooks turned to Hollywood contacts - Hampton had lived there for two years and Brooks is immersed in the community - for help.
"We found donors who wrote a check for $30,000 and she is now graduated and at the Royal Academy in Scotland studying classical theater," Hampton said.
Hampton noted that during her stint at the admissions office, she worked with many talented kids who got well-deserved scholarships but couldn't attend because their families could not cover the other costs. She also pointed to arts programs often being underfunded in schools because of budget cuts, with inner city and rural school systems being particularly hard hit.
This brings her to another goal she sees for the Life Through Art Foundation: bringing arts programs to schools that do not have funds for them.
"My goal down the road and with proper funding is to start after school arts programs for kids all over the country where arts are less prominent," she said.
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