Gardens

Enjoy tranquil outdoor spaces at the Getty Center

Reserve entry time

Purple, blue, and orange flowers bloom from green bushes and trees, a circular shrub maze in the distance beside a cascading waterfall within a brick architectural feature, on a sunny day

Relax and Recharge

Four gardens—one at street level, the rest at the top of the hill—and an outdoor sculpture terrace invite you to rest, relax, and enjoy the sights and sounds of nature.

Central Garden

The Central Garden is an evolving work of art, designed to change with the seasons. Every visit offers different sights, sounds, and scents.

Created by California artist Robert Irwin, the 134,000-square-foot Central Garden lies at the heart of the Getty Center.

A walkway crosses over a stream and winds through a variety of plants, gradually descending to a plaza, where bougainvillea climbs through umbrella-like trellises. The stream cascades over a stone waterfall into a pool containing a maze of azaleas. Continue your stroll through blooming gardens that surround the pool.

More than 500 varieties of plant material are used in the landscaping. All of the foliage and materials of the garden are selected to accentuate the interplay of light, color, and reflection. Since the Center opened in 1997, the Central Garden has evolved as its plants have grown and been trimmed. New plants are constantly being added to the palette.

Tours

Free English-language tours focused on the Central Garden are offered daily. See tour times and details.

Cactus Garden

See a variety of cacti, succulents, and other plants from a desert terrain—as well as panoramic views of Los Angeles—in this garden located between the Museum's East and West Pavilions.

Blooming cacti, with orange and yellow flowers, grow in a large garden overlooking a view of the Los Angeles skyline on a sunny, blue-sky day

Lower Terrace Sculpture Garden

Sculptures by modern artists such as Elisabeth Frink and Isamu Noguchi, and plants such as colorful tall verbena, can be found in this garden located above the main parking structure next to the Lower Tram Station.

The Fran and Ray Stark Sculpture Terrace

Adjacent to the Museum's West Pavilion are works that depict the shift in figurative sculpture from representation to abstraction, including works by Barbara Hepworth and Rene Magritte.

Fran and Ray Stark Sculpture Garden

To the west of the Central Garden, this sculpture garden contains works by Joan Miró, Alexander Calder, and others.

Two large, orange-painted steel sculptures—one a circle with angular cut-outs and one of various shapes suspended from a pole—are installed near each other with the white buildings of the Getty Center in the background.

The Fran and Ray Stark Sculpture Garden features Gandydancer's Dream by Mark di Suvero, 1987–1988. Courtesy of Mark di Suvero and Spacetime C.C.

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