awards for arts achievement

Wallis Annenberg is the vice president and a trustee of the Annenberg Foundation, one of the largest private foundations in the United States.  Based in Los Angeles, she has spent much of her life focused on philanthropy and is dedicated to education, communications, arts and culture, medical research, animal welfare, social justice, and environmental stewardship.

The work of the Los Angeles office of the Annenberg Foundation builds upon the legacy of its founder, Ambassador Walter H. Anenberg, Ms. Annenberg's father.  Wallis serves on the foundation's Board of Trustees, comprised of three generations of family members that include, Mrs. Leonore Annenberg, Lauren Bon, Charles Weingarten, and Gregory Weingarten.  Under her leadership, the Los Angeles office has given more than a quarter of a billion dollars to more than 500 organizations.  Complementing this wide- and high-impact grantmaking are special projects and initiatives, which are pushing the boundaries of traditional philanthropy.

Ms. Annenberg is the longest-serving trustee at the University of Southern California.  She serves on a number of boards, including The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the USC Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education, the California Science Center, the Music Center of Los Angeles County, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

Her commitment to the arts and arts education is deep and varied, and it is demonstrated through a number of substantial grants to Southern California institutions, among them, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Music Center of Los Angeles County, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Huntington Library & Art Gallery, the Geffen Playhouse, Center Theater Group, the California AFrican American Museum, the Armand Hammer Museum of Art, the Children's Museum of Los Angeles, Kidspace, the Autry National Center, and the Debbie Allen Dance Academy.

In the coming years, the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts will open in Beverly Hills.  In 2008, the Annenberg Foundation will open and operate an innovative cultural space in Century City, CA, on the site of the former Shubert Theater.