Palace of Fine Arts Theatre

Located at the beautiful and historic Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre hosts sold out concerts, dance productions, community events, corporate meetings and other special events. Originally designed by Bernard R. Maybeck during the Pan Pacific International Exposition (PPIE) in 1915, the Palace of Fine Arts was one of the ten exhibition palaces at the fair. Maybeck’s design was inspired by Roman and ancient Greek architecture and depicts a fictional ruin from a foregone time. It’s soaring colonnade, grand rotunda, and carefully constructed pond was meant to evoke quiet sadness and solemnity. This is most evident as one observes the “weeping ladies” facing into the tops of the columns throughout the park. After the fair, most of the buildings at the PPIE, which were never meant to be permanent, were torn down. The exception of the Palace of Fine Arts; the citizens of San Francisco felt it was just too beautiful to destroy. Consistent with his design concept, Maybeck had intended that the Palace should just fall into ruin, and so it did for a long time. In the ensuing years the building was used for a variety of purposes. After World War II it was a military storage depot, a warehouse for the Parks Department, a telephone book distribution center, and even temporary Fire Department headquarters. However, the Palace of Fine Arts was never destined to have the same fate as the other buildings of the PPIE. In 1959 Assemblyman Caspar Weinberger led the effort to completely restore the Palace. Public and private funding efforts were underway, but it seemed the goal was just beyond reach. It was then that businessman and philanthropist Walter S. Johnson stepped up and contributed the additional $2MM needed to completely restore the Palace into a permanent structure. The Palace of Fine Arts League, a 501(c)3 non-profit, was established in 1962 to provide the means to restore the Palace of Fine Arts. Walter Johnson’s efforts, along with many others, contributed to the creation of the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre, which opened in 1970. The Palace of Fine Arts League continues to operate the theater today, honoring the legacy of Maybeck, Johnson, and the many others that have contributed to the rich cultural fabric of San Francisco made possible by the success of the Panama Pacific International Exposition.