Beyond Baroque is a Celebration of the Literary Arts

Founded by George Drury Smith in 1968, Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center is one of the most successful and influential grassroots incubators of literary art in the country. Housed in the original Venice City Hall building in Venice, Beyond Baroque is a nonprofit public space dedicated to cultivating new writing and expanding the public’s knowledge of poetry, fiction, literature, and art through cultural events and community interaction.

The Center offers a diverse variety of literary and arts programming including readings, workshops, new music and education. The building also houses a bookstore with the largest collection of new poetry books and CDs for sale and an archive that houses over 40,000 books, including small press and limited-edition publications, chronicling the history of poetry movements in Los Angeles and beyond.

Through the years, Beyond Baroque has played muse to the Venice Beats, the burgeoning Punk movement and visiting scholars. Many of the city's leading literary talents - including Dennis Cooper, Wanda Coleman, Tom Waits, Exene Cervenka and Amy Gerstler - are alumni of the Wednesday night poetry workshop. Some of the world's most well known independent artists, including Patti Smith, Henry Rollins, Ellyn Maybe, Michael McClure, Dana Gioia and Viggo Mortensen have performed on its stage.

Guided by the Center's Executive Director, Richard Modiano and a council of prominent artist-curators, Beyond Baroque celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2018 with a year-long program of activities at its Venice location and in venues throughout Los Angeles.

“Beyond Baroque has an incredible record of cultivating some of the most innovative and widely influential literature and art to come out of Los Angeles over the past 50 years,” said Modiano. “We aim to nurture the next 50 years of cutting-edge Los Angeles poetry, literature, and art.”

The Center’s calendar of events continues to showcase Beyond Baroque’s extensive roster of talent as well as exciting new voices drawn from L.A.'s diverse literary communities.

Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center
681 Venice Blvd, Venice 90291
(310) 822-3006