Arts & Culture

Work that deepens our understanding of the human experience, broadens engagement with history, heritages and more — whether preserving access to iconic cultural resources or providing arts therapy and enrichment to youth in hospitals or marginalized neighborhoods.

The Wallis

Wallis Annenberg was instrumental in saving the Beverly Hills Post Office — listed on the National Register of Historic Places — and transforming the landmark into the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. Today, The Wallis sits at the center of the city’s arts and culture, bringing world-class theater, dance, and music to Los Angeles. With shows that the New York Times says “challenge the cultural status quo and help blaze a path,” The Wallis offers an array of classic and soon-to-be classic performances, as well as arts programs for learners of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities. Learn More

Returning Sacred Objects

Annenberg supports a range of cultural and social projects, with a particular focus on the arts. One of its most impactful efforts was the repatriation of Hopi and Apache objects. GRoW Founder and Foundation Director Gregory Annenberg Weingarten intervened in a French auction to purchase and secure 24 sacred artifacts and return them to their rightful owners, the tribes. GRoW’s intervention and the subsequent media attention led to broader awareness and discussion of Indigenous artifacts that are often wrongly acquired and sold. Learn More

“As an artist, I was struck by the awesome power and beauty of these objects. But these are not trophies to have on one’s mantel; they are truly sacred works for the Native Americans.”

Gregory Annenberg Weingarten
December 2013

Arts Preservation and Celebration

Preserving art and culture is part of the legacy of the Annenberg Foundation. Founder Walter Annenberg was a recognized world-class art collector who donated eight Cezannes, six Monets, five van Goghs, four Gaugins, and dozens of other impressionist and post-impressionist works to New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. Chairman Wallis Annenberg is a long-time board member of the Met and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, the California Science Center, and the LA County Museum of Art, which in TK received its most significant and valuable gift of photography in the museum’s history from Wallis. Learn More

The Annenberg family has received three Presidential medals: Wallis was awarded a 2022 National Humanities Medal, and Ambassador Walter H. Annenberg received the Medal of Arts in 1993 and Medal of Freedom in 1986.