Highways Performance Space

Highways Performance Space
Name	Highways Performance Space
Established	1989
Location	Los Angeles, California
Type	Performance venue, arts organization
Capacity	~60–120

Highways Performance Space Highways Performance Space is an alternative arts venue and nonprofit organization in Los Angeles, California, known for presenting experimental performance art, LGBTQ-centered works, and emerging theatre and dance artists. Founded in 1989, the organization became a hub for avant-garde practitioners from neighborhoods such as Silver Lake, Echo Park, and West Hollywood, and it has intersected with broader movements associated with institutions like UCLA, CalArts, Walt Disney Concert Hall, and festivals such as LA Weekly Theater Awards.

History

Highways Performance Space was founded amid cultural shifts following the late 1980s debates around AIDS crisis, censorship controversies reminiscent of the NEA Four discussion, and a surge of grassroots venues including Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art, Joe's Pub, and The Kitchen. Early leadership drew on networks connected to ACT Theatre, Mark Taper Forum, Inner-City Arts, and artists who had worked with Merce Cunningham, Trisha Brown, and Yvonne Rainer. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Highways hosted touring ensembles that also appeared at Performance Space 122, Judson Church, Dance Theater Workshop, and international showcases like the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and La Biennale di Venezia. Milestones include programmatic expansions paralleling initiatives at National Endowment for the Arts, collaborations with Los Angeles County Museum of Art programs, and responses to municipal policy shifts under administrations linked to Los Angeles City Council members.

Architecture and Facilities

The venue occupies a converted space in Los Angeles characterized by adaptable black-box staging similar to spaces at The Public Theater, St Ann's Warehouse, and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Facilities include a flexible house seating arrangement comparable to the configurations used at Soho Rep and a white-cube foyer referencing galleries such as Gagosian and LACE. Technical capabilities align with small experimental venues like Theatre503 and La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, offering lighting and sound rigs used in productions influenced by designers who have worked with BAM, Royal Court Theatre, and Sadler's Wells.

Programming and Productions

Programming emphasizes short-run evening performances, festival-format series, and curated seasons reflecting models employed by Fringe Festival organizers and curators from Jacob's Pillow. The organization curates festivals that recall formats at MOCA, Hammer Museum, and Getty Center satellite performances, and it has presented works engaging with practices associated with artists who have shown at Tate Modern, MoMA PS1, and Serpentine Galleries. Highways’ repertoire has included new plays, interdisciplinary dance-theatre hybrids, solo performances, and multimedia installations akin to programs at The Kitchen and Walker Art Center.

Community Engagement and Education

Community initiatives mirror outreach strategies used by LA Phil's youth programs, Inner-City Arts, and Highland Park's community centers, offering workshops, panels, and residency opportunities paralleling those at UCLA Extension, CalArts Community Arts Partnership, and USC School of Dramatic Arts. Youth and artist development partnerships have been organized in dialogue with local groups such as One Archives at the USC Libraries, Los Angeles LGBT Center, Self Help Graphics & Art, and neighborhood councils similar to those in Hollywood and Koreatown.

Funding and Governance

Funding has combined individual donors, foundation grants, and earned revenue, following funding patterns similar to organizations supported by the Annenberg Foundation, Galanter & Co., Southern California Grantmakers, and national funders such as the NEA and State of California Arts Council. Governance has involved a volunteer board resembling boards at Oregon Shakespeare Festival and Center Theatre Group with executive leadership that intersects networks including Americans for the Arts and regional arts administrators linked to LA County Arts Commission.

Notable Artists and Collaborations

Highways has presented artists and collectives who have also worked with institutions such as Richard Foreman, Luis Alfaro, Ralph Lemon, Ivo van Hove, Taylor Mac, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater alumni, and independent companies that tour to Spoleto Festival USA and Next Wave Festival. Collaborations and guest artists have connections to figures and entities like Octavia Butler-inspired dramatists, playwrights recognized by the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, choreographers associated with Pina Bausch’s legacy, and performance-makers who later exhibited at Venice Biennale and Documenta.

Reception and Impact on Local Arts Scene

Critical reception has been chronicled alongside reviews appearing in outlets similar to Los Angeles Times, LA Weekly, Artforum, The New Yorker cultural pages, and local blogs paralleling CultureVultureLA. Highways’ influence on Los Angeles has been compared to catalytic roles played by REDCAT, BOOTLEG THEATRE, and The Broad's public programming, contributing to artist careers, festival circuits, and cross-disciplinary collaborations across Downtown Los Angeles, Silver Lake, and Echo Park.

Category:Arts organizations in Los Angeles Category:Performance art venues in the United States