Teacher Amiekoleh K. Usafi remembers when she brought her fifth-grade class to Getty for the first time.
Many of the students had never ventured outside their immediate community, she says. “As they approached the Center on the tram, you would’ve thought they were going to Disneyland,” says Usafi.
Mesmerized by the view, one student even told her she’d never seen the ocean before. “Every gallery the students entered amazed them—seeing the large Louis XIV painting, the decorative arts, especially the blue bed. And they also loved sketching the big beetle, viewing Van Gogh, and walking the gardens.”
Usafi always knew that the arts were integral to education, so when the Inner City Education Foundation (ICEF) offered a program at her Title I school, she jumped on board. Through the program, Getty led workshops for educators and collaborated with teachers to incorporate art lessons into K-12 history, science, and English classes. It also provided opportunities for student field trips. “The program gave us teachers the opportunity to reflect on different cultures, and gave our students a more complete understanding of the world,” says Usafi.
ICEF is one example of the multiyear educational partnerships Getty has offered over the past 25 years. When the Center first opened, a major goal was to expand Getty’s impact in K-12 schools. “School communities have consistently been challenged to offer high-quality, sequential visual arts education to K-12 students,” says Elizabeth Escamilla, assistant director for education and public programs at the Getty Museum. “We wanted to make an impact by providing teachers with classroom tools, and professional development focused on how to use the tools.”
Things started small, with about 48,000 students a year visiting the Center. Getty now serves 150,000 students at the Center and Villa.
Over the past 25 years, Getty has also developed hundreds of professional development programs for local elementary school educators. “The guiding principle of our work with teachers is to treat them as partners in our mission to engage young people in the visual arts in exciting, relevant, and fun ways,” says Escamilla.
Getty plans to expand its online educational offerings for those unable to visit in person. Long before the pandemic, Getty had been building a virtual programming portfolio that has taken Getty artworks and experts into homes and classrooms throughout the world, including to audiences who may never visit the Museum. “There is value in both in-person and online experiences, and we want to develop digital resources and virtual programs that bring the collection to life across the globe, while still being devoted and generous with our local visitors,” says Escamilla.
“Now, more than ever, we need places to gather and places to connect, and museums provide that space,” she continues. “Art helps lift our spirits and inspires us to see the world differently. Getty’s commitment to providing access to young students is an investment in the next generation of creatives, artists, and arts advocates.”
