Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center, literary arts center in Venice, Los Angeles, United States

Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center occupies the old Venice City Hall, a 1906 white stucco building at 681 Venice Boulevard with a steep gabled roof, a square tower and green-framed windows. The tower carries the inscriptions "BEYOND BAROQUE FOUNDATION" and "L.A. THEATRE WORKS" above an arched entrance. Inside are a bookstore, a project room and a chapbook and small press archive.

The center was founded in 1968 by George Drury Smith as a magazine publication in a Venice storefront. It gradually grew from this modest beginning into a dedicated literary and arts institution.

Beyond Baroque's name comes from founder George Drury Smith's magazine, first printed in 1968. Its Wednesday Night Poetry Workshop is where Exene Cervenka met John Doe, leading them to form the band X. The reading series presents over 200 writers a year, and the center has organized public Poetry Walls on the Venice Boardwalk honoring Los Angeles poets.

The center occupies the old Venice City Hall at 681 Venice Boulevard, a white stucco building with a square tower; the arched entrance at the tower base leads in. It sits near Venice Beach, so a visit can be combined with the boardwalk. Programs run in the evenings and on weekends.

Exene Cervenka, frontwoman of the punk band X, worked as the center's first librarian and helped shape its literary collection. This connection reveals how the venue attracted artists from different creative fields and brought them into its growing community.