Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center
Fund: $28,000
Founded in 1968 and housed in the original Venice City Hall, Beyond Baroque is a nonprofit public space that supports poets, writers, and artists dedicated to exploring the artistic possibilities of language. The organization values imaginative, artistic, and critical engagement with language in all its dimensions, whether aural, graphic, symbolic, narrative, or other. Since poetry tends to offer the most concentrated artistic engagement with language, the majority of Beyond Baroque’s programs support poets. However, it also devotes considerable resources to working with visual, sound, and performance artists. The Center exists to provide a low-cost, grassroots alternative to expensive MFA programs. Through its programming, the Center actively seeks to engage diverse audiences that reflect the different racial and cultural communities of Los Angeles.