Manuel “Manny” Prieto has been named Director of Education of the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. Prieto assumes the post on Sept. 1 and will oversee the strategic planning and operations of The Wallis’ highly regarded GRoW @ The Wallis education and outreach programs, which serve a broad and diverse sector of the community. He will collaborate with Executive Director and CEO Rachel Fine, the organization’s artistic staff and Board of Directors to ensure the education department programs and initiatives align with the mission, vision, and core values of The Wallis.

Prieto most recently served as Executive Director of the Los Angeles Music and Art School, a non-profit arts education institution in East Los Angeles with a 77-year history of making arts education a tangible reality for thousands of underserved youth in the community. In that role, he has worked to recontextualize and combat the often outdated standards of fine and performing arts so that a new, diverse, and more modern cohort of students can experience the enrichment that creativity offers. Prieto succeeds Mark Slavkin, The Wallis’ first Director of Education, who led the department for and retired after seven years, building a successful and admired program emulated by other institutions.

“Manny Prieto is a dedicated arts education pioneer and advocate,” said Fine. “A visionary and community-focused trailblazer, he is dedicated to ensuring arts education and outreach programs remain indispensable in our complicated and evolving world. On behalf of The Wallis’ Board of Directors and staff, we welcome Manny enthusiastically to our senior management team. Under his strategic guidance, The Wallis will continue to prioritize its education department to serve the Beverly Hills and Los Angeles communities with forward-thinking educational programs that reflect the rich cultural diversity and needs of our great cities.”