MISSION

The Venice Heritage Foundation is a 501c3 nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving, showcasing, and nurturing the diverse cultural heritage and histories of Venice, CA.

The Venice Heritage Museum, a project of the Foundation, serves as a tangible embodiment of this mission, offering exhibitions, educational programs, and events that give visitors the opportunity to experience the stories of one of the most unique and innovative communities in the United States.

VALUES

Living Heritage

  • Representing Venice’s diverse histories through the museum’s archives and programs

  • Collecting stories as local community histories evolve

Cultural Representation

  • Providing a platform for both well-known and untold histories

  • Representing historical legacies through the words, images, and ephemera of Venice community members themselves

Strengthening Community

  • Deepening and enriching visitors’ understanding of Venice

  • Serving as a common ground where visitors can gather to celebrate Venice

Empowering Youth

  • Encouraging young people to take pride in the stories of cultural innovators who have lived and worked in Venice

  • Nurturing youth to write the next chapter of Venice histories

Public Knowledge Production

  • Highlighting the full range of local heritage, including inherited cultural traditions and the contemporary activities, meanings, and behaviors drawn from them

  • Preserving Venice’s stories, artifacts, and memorabilia in order to produce new knowledge that is accessible to the community and other institutions

HISTORY

The Venice Heritage Foundation was born in 2008 to build the first-ever museum for Venice, CA. What started with a collection quickly evolved into the Venice Heritage Museum project, a "museum without walls," that produced programming to connect the project with Venice residents through regular pop-up exhibitions and events. In 2021, the Foundation launched an inaugural capital campaign to establish the museum with a brick-and-mortar location and accessible archives, raising over $300,000. New initiatives such as the Community Archives, the Annual Venice Heritage Film Festival, and the Oral History Project were developed concurrently.

In March of 2024, the Venice Heritage Museum opened to the public at the Main Street Design Center with the inaugural exhibition, This is some place. Since launching, the museum continues to present year-round programming that is as dynamic as Venice itself.

Our aspirational museum project was nurtured from the beginning by the Founding Board Members Emeritus who helped to sow the seeds for this much-needed institution:​ Elayne Alexander, Nadine Parkos, Bonnie Poon, Stephen Pouliot, Daniel Samakow, Sarah Schacht, Paul Tanck, and Todd von Hoffmann.

Read about our commitment to Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion.

Download our Annual Report (FY 23 & FY 24).

A white card with a gold border featuring black and gold text: 'Gold Transparency 2025' and 'Candid.'