Dear Getty Community,

I hope this note finds you safe and secure. These are days of rapidly developing events. The well-being of all of you and your families is our highest priority and much on our minds.

While I have been traveling over the past week, I have been in close contact with Steve Olsen and members of the Getty’s Covid-19 Task Force and have had regular updates on the dramatic changes to our operations. I know how many of you are working tirelessly to both accomplish your Getty work, while also addressing your and your families’ needs and concerns. The circumstances under which our entire community is working – with shifting messages and evolving information coming in daily – is difficult. Do know that throughout this crisis, we have one core objective: the well-being of our staff and the safety of our collections. I am grateful for your hard work and dedication.

I want to reassure you all that we will put our employees’ interests first in the coming weeks, perhaps even months. You all saw last Friday that we have plans in place to compensate everyone, so that no one will miss a paycheck. We also are arranging for most of our employees to work from home, to create the safest environment possible for those who need to be on site to assure our critical work continues. We will be working to do all we can virtually and digitally. This will be an excellent time for us to test our “digital first” ethos as we continue our important work with the use of technology, rather than in person.

You will not see me on campus for a couple of weeks, as I self-isolate after travel to Mexico City. While there, a group of us held meetings with top government and cultural officials discussing our Ancient Worlds Now initiative. Everyone we spoke with was impressed by our ambition and fully aware of your good work advancing understanding of the importance of the world’s cultural heritage. We left Mexico City optimistic that, once the world recovers from the present crisis, the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia and the Museo Nacional de Antropología will join us in this endeavor.

Circumstances will change in the coming weeks and months and we will be addressing them as they do. I look forward to seeing you all back again before long. In the meantime, thank you for patience, understanding, and dedication to Getty. Please take care of yourselves and your families. We are all in this together.

With all best wishes,

Jim

James Cuno
President & CEO
The J. Paul Getty Trust
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 400
Los Angeles, CA 90049
T (310) 440 7600 | getty.edu