“I am so happy to welcome our new associate directors to the Getty Research Institute,” says Mary Miller, director of the Getty Research Institute. “The GRI aspires to support and develop new knowledge based in the visual record and in the rich library collections of Getty—and I’m convinced that this knowledge can transform our understanding of both the modern and pre-modern world. With Kara and Khristaan coming on board, I am confident that we will keep moving forward, embracing the history of the world’s art and visual culture in the broadest sense.”
In her new role, Dr. Olidge will guide Getty Research Institute collections—now including the largest art history library in the nation—and archival collections of hundreds of thousands of photographs, not to mention dealer records, art prints, artist notebooks, and so much more, into the second quarter of the 21st century.
“The GRI is committed to the preservation of and providing public access to visual culture in all of its rich and engaging formats,” says Dr. Olidge. “It creates dynamic interpretative experiences for diverse communities that are intergenerational, inclusive and educational. I am elated to join the GRI and work with my new colleagues to continue to foster a culture of collaboration, inquiry and wonder.”
Dr. Villela will oversee the Dissemination and External Affairs, newly reorganized to comprise exhibitions, digital media and content strategy, public programming, development, communications, and publications.
“The GRI is a leader in the preservation, creation, and dissemination of the knowledge about the world’s visual culture,” said Dr. Villela. “I look forward to working together with the GRI team to unify the voices of the scholarship, exhibitions, library, publications, and public programs at the Institute and to increase awareness of them among audiences in Los Angeles, elsewhere in the U.S., and globally.”
About Kara Olidge
Dr. Kara Tucina Olidge currently serves as the executive director of the Amistad Research Center at Tulane University. The Amistad Research Center is the nation's oldest, largest, and most comprehensive independent archive specializing in the history of African Americans and other ethnic minorities. In addition to her work at the Amistad Research Center and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Olidge developed programming and directed Hetrick-Martin Institute’s site in Newark, New Jersey. Dr. Olidge is a board member of South Arts, the Arts Council of New Orleans, and the LGBT+ Archives Project of Louisiana. She is the founding president of the Louisiana Charles Deslondes Chapter of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALAH).
She earned her B.A. from Spelman College, M.A. from the University of New Orleans, and her Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Buffalo (University at Buffalo).
About Khristaan Villela
Dr. Villela is currently the executive director of the Museum of International Folk Art, and the Chair of Arts and Science for the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs, a role in which he oversees multiple other state museums. Dr. Villela was the founding director of the Thaw Art History Center at the College of Santa Fe, where he organized an undergraduate art history department focused on the Art of the Americas. He has also taught art history at the University of New Mexico and the Santa Fe University of Art and Design. He has served as consulting curator for exhibitions at the Miho Museum, the GRI, the New Mexico History Museum and Palace of the Governors, and the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum.
He earned his B.A. from Yale University and his Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin.
Dr. Olidge and Dr. Villela, as well as Dr. Nancy Um, whose appointment as associate director was previously announced, will take up their posts at the GRI at the beginning of Summer 2022.