At a time when live entertainment has all but vanished, the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts has announced a continued commitment to fostering emerging talents in the arts with its first-ever fellowship program. The program, the Walter and Peggy Grauman Fellowship in Music, was made possible by a donation from Peggy Parker Grauman and her late husband, Walter. The program will provide an emerging classical pianist or strings player with a $15,000 award, in addition to mentorship at The Wallis. The Center also announced the formation of the Steven D. Cochran Memorial Fund, which will help support programs at The Wallis dedicated to education, arts learning, and community engagement. The two endowments will be managed by the Wallis’s education and outreach initiative, GRoW @ The Wallis.
“Philanthropic investments of this magnitude speak to the dedication of our Wallis Family members and the priority they give The Wallis as a cornerstone institution of our community and a bright hope for our future,” said Wallis Executive Director and CEO Rachel Fine in a statement. “These two tremendous and significant funds, the first endowment gifts we have received since before The Wallis’s 2013 opening, fortify our mission and vision, as well as underscore our core values at a critical moment in time.”
