LOS ANGELES – As a member of the Cultural Historical Endowment Board, Majority Leader Karen Bass (Assembly District 47) was able to help secure more than $2.4 million in funding for the Vision Theatre, which was the largest amount granted to any single project. The funds obtained by Bass, who worked in collaboration with City Councilman Bernard Parks (Council District 8), will help renovate the 1930’s theater that has been closed for the past several years.

“Securing funds to help reopen this cultural gem in the community was one of my priorities when I went to Sacramento,” states Majority Leader Bass. “We have been committed to making sure the doors of the Vision Theater will reopen again. It will serve as a catalyst to revitalize the Leimert Park area.”

 The funds were awarded to the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, which oversees the management of the city owned theatre. The renovation of the facility will adapt the Theater so that it can serve as the major showcase venue for performing arts events, films produced by and featuring African Americans as well as serve as the foremost venue for community lectures, assembly and exhibits. 

In addition, the Manchester Jr. Arts Center will provide hands-on training that will utilize the Vision Theater as the on-site laboratory for skill development in the art of stage production including stage craft, computer application for the entertainment lighting industry, technical production, theater management, sound design, production planning, American theater practice and law of the arts and House and box office management.

“The Arts Center is greatly needed in this community. With the west side housing the entertainment industry, there is a multitude of employment opportunities for people for below the line industry skills that the center focus its training around,” adds Majority Leader Bass.  

The Endowment funds historic and cultural preservation projects. In addition to preserving historic resources commonly associated with California as well as funds projects that tell the parts of California’s story that are absent or underrepresented in existing historical parks, monuments, museums, and other facilities.

Other projects in Los Angeles funded by the Cultural Historical Endowment Board include:

• Project Restore Barnsdall Park Art Park – $1,935,000
• Kidspace Children's Museum – $1,741,500
• Echo Park Boathouse – $1,451,250
• Museum of Latin American Art – $1,239,367.50
• California African American Museum – $200,000
• Los Angeles County Museum of Art May Company Building – $483,750
• Pasadena Playhouse – $967,500
• Autry National Center of the American West –$160,121.25

Karen Bass has been a State Assembly Member representing Los Angeles’ 47th District since 2005. Speaker Fabian Núñez selected Bass as the Majority Leader for the California State Assembly during the 2007-2008 legislative session, making her the first African American and the first woman to hold this leadership position. As the Assemblymember for the 47th District, Karen Bass serves the cities and communities of Culver City, West Los Angeles, Westwood, Cheviot Hills, Leimert Park, Baldwin Hills, Windsor Hills, Ladera Heights, the Crenshaw District, Little Ethiopia and portions of Korea Town and South Los Angeles.