About Venice Oceanarium
Back in 1995 our founder, Tim Rudnick, organized a weekend - long marathon reading of Moby-Dick at the Venice Beach breakwater.
Reliving life aboard a whaling ship and Melville's soul searching journey while the group huddled for warmth on the sand was a transformative experience.
Tim realized the importance of learning outside of the traditional classroom and founded the Venice Oceanarium, a Museum Without Walls.
This concept of blending the arts and sciences is the core of our programming. We believe that our integrative curriculum inspires kids of all ages to be stewards of our precious oceans.
Over the years we’ve expanded our outreach to include our highly anticipated annual grunion party, weekly Marine Biology pop-up labs at the end of the Venice Pier, classes at local schools and youth centers, tidepool talks, wetland walks and other excursions.
Venice Beach: An Urban Coastal Park
Venice Beach is a wonderful juxtaposition of urban life and natural wonder. Just steps from the world-famous Venice Beach Boardwalk’s street artists and performers, are miles of beautiful shoreline to explore. Wide sandy beaches, crashing waves, shells, seaweed, birds and other wildlife coexist with surfers, sunbathers and sandcastles.
The tidepools at the Venice Beach Breakwater are teeming with wildlife (to be enjoyed with your eyes only) as the iconic and colorful Venice graffiti walls loom in the background. There’s a secret reef, beautiful wetlands, and on a clear day you can see Malibu and Catalina Island.
Millions of locals and visitors enjoy our beaches. Few stop to really appreciate the rare treasures it has to offer. Our mission is to excite, engage and inspire kids of all ages to appreciate our unique urban coast.
Experiential Learning
The Venice Oceanarium is a Museum Without Walls. Our programs combine science with the arts to encourage kids (of all ages) to appreciate the environment and therefore become stewards of our oceans. We believe that this integrative curriculum of poetry, literature, music, drawing and performance arts teaches by experiencing the world around us on a more profound level than books and classrooms alone provide.
We design our events and activities to raise awareness to the natural wonders of Venice Beach. Join us on our learning expedition!
On the Horizon
As a small nonprofit, we’re little fish in a really big sea. That doesn’t stop us from making great, big plans for our future. We’re oceans-half-full kind of people.
See below for some of the very exciting projects on the horizon. We look forward to you joining us on our journey.
Secret Venice Reef
For years we’ve been monitoring creatures on, around and beneath the Venice Pier. We’ve recently sent a Remotely Operated Vehicle underwater to document what we’ve known about for decades. We call it the Venice Secret Reef. We’ve kept our cards a little close to our chest since we were worried if word got out, the habitat would be compromised. Now we realize that it is too important for us to keep it to ourselves.
The reef is home to many rare and wonderful creatures. Garibaldi, lobster, and sea lions to name just a few. This is uncharted and accidentally manmade. A truly Venice story.
Sometime in the 1980’s, during a particularly bad El Niño year, the end of the Venice Pier was washed away. The concrete restrooms that were once there, sank to Davy Jones locker. Mother Nature claimed the debris and has been transforming it into an abundant reef teeming with sea life. Another example of the magical, healing force of nature.
We’re finally sharing this with the world since it is a big part of our mission to inspire and inform of the wonders of our oceans. Our plan is to create a live feed from the reef and use it as a research and educational tool.
We’re making great progress but as a tiny nonprofit, we survive on donations. Join our email list if you would like to stay informed on our progress. If you would like to help us reach our goal to have our webcam. click here to donate.
Pavilion
Our vision - Build a permanent museum at the end of the historic Venice Fishing Pier. Along the 1000 foot promenade to the pavilion, visitors will connect with ocean themed art installations and enjoy saltwater breezes and spectacular coastline views.
The museum will educate and enlighten the public to the wonders of the sea and ecosystems unique to the Southern California coast. The open concept Pavilion, reminiscent of the original bait and tackle shack from years ago, will house specimens, artifacts, interactive exhibits and our integrative programming, which blends Marine Science and Art through experiential learning.
An observation hatch with state of the art water sampling equipment, live reef cam viewing and Citizen Scientist opportunities. It’s a huge project, but with your help we know we can get there. Join our email list if you would like to stay informed on our progress and if you would like to help us reach our goal click here to donate.