The Annenberg Space for Photography is Permanently Closed

Over the Annenberg Space for Photography’s 10-plus years of existence, close to 1 million visitors walked through its doors. Now, those doors are closed forever.

In a statement released yesterday by Wallis Annenberg, the Photography Space announced it would not reopen after closing this past March amid the coronavirus crisis and the city’s Safer at Home order.

“It’s been a joy and a privilege to share my favorite art form with the Los Angeles community for these ten wonderful years,” Annenberg said. “Because a great photograph does so much more than capture what’s in front of us. It captures what’s deep inside us—the trials and the triumphs the naked eye rarely sees. That’s why the Photo Space has been so meaningful to me.”

The Photography Space opened in 2009 at the former site of the Shubert Theatre on Avenue of the Stars in Century City. Over the years, the 10,000 square-foot facility curated many culturally significant exhibits including Who Shot Rock & Roll; Contact High: A Visual History of Hip-Hop; National Geographic’s Photo Ark; Refugee; Generation Wealth; Identity: Timothy Greenfield-Sanders The List Portraits; and W|ALLS: Defend, Divide and the Divine.

Through it all, the museum also remained admission-free. That made it a popular draw for locals and tourists alike, as well as a frequent feature on We Like L.A.’s weekly to-do and free museum lists.

The most recent exhibit, Vanity Fair: Hollywood Calling, showcased celebrity portraits from titular magazine’s annual Hollywood issues, as well as captures from past Oscar night parties.

For those interested, past exhibits and archives of interviews are still available for public view at annenbergphotospace.org.