Our Space ///
Steps away from Abbot Kinney Boulevard, Beyond Baroque includes the 100-seat Wanda Coleman Theater, a bookstore and workshop space, the Mike Kelley Gallery, the Poets’ Garden & Patio—an outdoor performance space—and extensive gardens and grounds. Beyond Baroque hosts hundreds of readings, performances, workshops, and art exhibitions every year, and is available to rent.
A Historic Home for the Literary Arts
Beyond Baroque’s building and gardens occupy Venice’s former municipal grounds. Built in 1906, the Venice City Hall became City of Los Angeles property after Venice’s annexation in 1926. In 1979, Beyond Baroque converted the iconic Old City Hall into a nonprofit literary arts space. Today, the theater occupies what once doubled as Venice’s courtroom and city council chamber, while the former municipal offices and treasury house our bookstore, workshop space, archive, and art gallery.
The Poets’ Garden & Patio
Beyond Baroque’s enclosed Poets’ Garden & Patio is a leafy courtyard for quiet reflection, writing workshops, outdoor performances, receptions, and live music.
S.P.Y. Community Garden at Beyond Baroque
Venice nonprofit Safe Place for Youth (S.P.Y.) manages the community garden and grounds surrounding Beyond Baroque. The garden features an array of flowers, vegetable beds, an ocean-friendly native garden, and an orchard. It also includes a small stage for outdoor performances.
Venice Arts Complex
Beyond Baroque sits in the midst of the vibrant Venice Arts Complex. Comprised of Beyond Baroque, the Pacific Resident Theater, and the Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC), and featuring the shared S.P.Y. Community Garden, the complex forms the cultural heart of Venice. Every year, the complex welcomes thousands of people to literary programming, award-winning theatrical productions, art exhibitions, community classes, garden festivals, and artists’ fairs.
