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Our Mission

Deeply rooted in our local Beverly Hills community and influenced by cultural change, the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, a public-private partnership with the City of Beverly Hills, strives to be a site for the convergence of relevant, dynamic performing arts, education and civic life, strengthening our local and global community in our role as a presenter, producer, educator and community resource.

Core Values

We approach our work with the pioneering creative spirit of Beverly Hills and greater Los Angeles, while also recognizing that we live in a multi-cultural ever-changing world and that we will face continuous challenges. We navigate that changing world guided by the following core values:

Trust: We believe that trust among our fellow humans is a core tenet of our ability to accomplish our mission and vision and we are committed to building that trust among staff, board, audiences, artists and the community. Inherent in this trust is a generosity of spirit towards each other, a commitment to behaving with integrity, and respect for the views of those with whom we disagree.

Artistic Courage: We believe freedom of artistic expression is essential for our work. Artists and Wallis staff need to feel safe and supported in generating and sharing bold and provocative work. While everyone has a right to dislike any particular work, such views shall not be used to censor or inhibit future programming.

Enlightenment: We value innovation and ambition, allowing us to take on the challenge of bold work that will advance our mission and vision. We strive to provide opportunities to feel, to think, to provoke, and to dream together.

Cooperation: We believe our best work comes though teamwork, trust and the ability to work together in pursuit of our mission.

Communication: We believe the key to effective communication is the art of listening -- , considering and taking seriously all points of view. We embrace diverse voices and respect all points of view, even if we disagree. Our goal is to create human connectedness through meaningful shared arts experiences. Our marketing and community engagement will enable our goal of creating meaningful ongoing relationships with our audiences and community. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: We respect, honor, commit to and celebrate the full range of diverse backgrounds, abilities, identities and orientations that comprise our community, our country and our world. We are committed to equity; to deliberately elevating the voices of those who have not always been heard, using the platform we have to give voice to marginalized groups. We hope our audiences will mirror the wonderful diversity of our local community and our region.

Accountability: We recognize that we have been and continue to be entrusted with the public’s resources and revenue. We will be responsible stewards of these resources and transparent about how they are deployed in pursuit of our mission. We will strive to balance essential artistic risk with fiscal prudence.

Community Context

The Wallis is firmly grounded in, and of service to, the dynamic, ever changing, Beverly Hills and greater Los Angeles community. As a civic hub, a gathering place for the open exchange of arts, ideas, and interests, our vision for this community actively invites everyone to contribute to the rich arts ecosystem of Southern California. We are also an integral part of the local, national and international arts communities and seek to play a leadership role in the advancement of the performing arts.

Read more about our mission and core values.