Grand Vision & the Grand Annex

Grand Vision Foundation is a non profit 501(c)(3) organization. We help support live concerts, film screenings, performances and educational events at the historic Warner Grand Theatre, a 1,500 seat art deco movie palace. We also present concerts at the Grand Annex, a 150-seat music listening room and run a robust arts education program called Meet the Music.

Our vision is to see the community revitalized through the arts, with a fully restored Warner Grand Theatre as the center of an active performing arts complex that includes the Grand Annex and other cultural and artistic venues within historic downtown San Pedro, complemented by robust arts educational experiences for our youth, schools and community.

Grand Vision Foundation has three programming areas:

Friends of the Warner Grand

Originally formed to save the Warner Grand Theatre, a 1,500-seat movie palace. The organization has since contributed over $4 million to support the Theatre including a capital campaign in 2004 to 08. Owned by the City of Los Angeles, the Warner Grand hosts numerous cultural events annually that are promoted by GVF through our website and marketing. These efforts serve Grand Vision’s mission of providing an arts anchor in downtown San Pedro, revitalizing our historic downtown and contributing to the cultural life of the larger community. As the Friends, we also provide ongoing advocacy, technical assistance, repairs/restoration and a corps of volunteers for events. Grand Vision has a Memorandum of Understanding with the City of Los Angeles to act as its official Friends’ Group.

The Grand Annex; A Cabaret Theater

In 2008 we converted an adjacent storefront into our own professional performance venue, the Grand Annex. In this premiere cabaret style listening room, our Artistic Director presents an annual concert season of 40-50 performances of regional and national world, Latin, jazz, classic rock and American roots music artists, spoken word events, and film screenings. The Annex is also a community hub, regularly rented for theatrical productions by local colleges and theatre companies, and engages the San Pedro community by booking music for outdoor events, such as the annual “Dia de los Muertos” festival, “Taste of San Pedro” and “First Thursdays” downtown Art Walk.

Music Education and Community Engagement

Meet the Music (MTM) is Grand Vision Foundation’s youth education program. Since its creation in 2009, MTM has become an in-depth program serving over 1,500 students annually through three core projects: Roots of Music Program (RoMP), a semester-long foundations of music curriculum; Recorders-in-Schools, a 24 weeks of hands-on music course; and an annual introduction to opera with the LA Opera. Through sequential standards-based instruction and participatory live music experiences, Meet the Music opens the gateway to music education for underprivileged 4th and 5th grade students in the LA Harbor community, building skills for success in middle school and beyond.

In addition, Grand Vision’s newest program, Team Taiko, promotes acculturation among adult English Language Learners, through Japanese Taiko drum instruction since 2013.