Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center

George Drury Smith started publishing the magazine Beyond Baroque in 1968 from a storefront in Venice, which became a meeting place with workshops and space for readings, art, and music.

Some of LA artist Mike Kelley's first performances were at the center, and the cover of one of the early issues of Beyond Baroque, featuring several experimental filmmakers, was displayed in the Pompidou's 2006 show on Los Angeles art.

The center's reading series, featuring over 200 writers a year, has featured writers including Amanda Gorman John Ashbery, Amiri Baraka, Raymond Carver, Jerry Casale of Devo, Wanda Coleman, Ed Dorn, Allen Ginsberg, Leland Hickman, Philip Levine, Lewis MacAdams, Viggo Mortensen, Harry Northup, Alice Notley, Graeme Revell from the band SPK, Patti Smith, James Tate, V Vale, who formed a tabloid format zine focusing on various counterculture and underground topics named RE/Search Publications documenting punk subculture, and CK Williams.

The center has also curated and organized permanent public art projects highlighting Los Angeles poets, including the Poetry Walls on the Venice Boardwalk and the lobby of the Junípero Serra State Office Building downtown.

Launched by Fred Dewey, the imprint has published 14 books, including works by Ammiel Alcalay, Simone Forti, and Philomene Long, as well as anthologies from the Wednesday Workshop, the World Stage, and several art and literature magazines.