Dear Colleagues,

It’s hard to believe it’s already near the middle of May, when normally we’d be looking forward to Memorial Day, the seasonal marker for the onset of summer. Summer will arrive, but we’ll most likely welcome it frequenting different locations, primarily (with face masks and safe distancing) the sidewalks of our neighborhoods. I am heartened that so many millions of people are engaging with us now virtually, if not in person, through the #GettyMuseumChallenge social media phenomenon, through videos, our online collections, virtual library and digital databases.

As we watch Los Angeles and California take small steps toward reopening, we are doing our own planning for the eventual reopening of our Getty sites. Members of our emergency planning, security and operations teams are serving on Los Angeles County task forces, working closely with public health officials through the many details involved in having some employees return, as well what would be involved in having our visitors return.

It is an exercise being repeated throughout the country right now, as our peers grapple with the same issues of simultaneously creating meaningful cultural experiences and safe distances for everyone. I recently spoke to many of our peers on the topic, recording two episodes of our podcast, Getty Art + Ideas, with the directors of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Metropolitan Museum of Art New York, National Gallery of Art Washington, Art Institute of Chicago, Hammer Museum and our own Tim Potts. These leaders reflect with candor and thoughtfulness on the effect of COVID-19 on their museums.  

Their experiences mirrored our own. They emphasized the sudden appearance of the virus, the quick scramble to close their museums, their concentration on the safety and well-being of their staff, maintenance of relations with their members and general public, focus on making their collections and other content digitally available, admission that they don’t know when they will reopen, and an emphasis on the importance of their museums as a public institutions. 

Annie Philbin of the Hammer Museum compared her COVID-19 experience to surfing: “You have to stay just ahead of the wave, but you have to remain completely responsive to how it changes every second. It’s a ride and if you kind of relax into it, it goes much better.” 

That’s as good a description of our experience these past six weeks as I can think of. I came away from our conversations more impressed than ever by the leadership of our nation’s art museums—their sensitivity, thoughtfulness, and compassion. You can find the episodes with transcripts on our website here:

https://blogs.getty.edu/iris/podcast-museum-directors-on-covid-19-and-its-impact-on-museums-part-1/

https://blogs.getty.edu/iris/podcast-museum-directors-on-covid-19-and-its-impact-on-museums-part-2/

They're also available on most podcast apps—including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify. 

Let me know what you think.  

And let me know too if your neighborhood is as graced with the strange and wonderful songs of songbirds like mine is. If so, you might appreciate Richard Smyth’s essay in the April 10 issue of the Times Literary Supplement, “Little Parishes of Sky.” Here he quotes one of my favorite books, The Journal of a Disappointed Man by W.N.P. Barbellion: “I get out of bed usually about tea time and sit by the window and churn over past, present, and future. However, the swallows have arrived at last, though they were very late, and there are also cuckoos, green woodpeckers, moorhens, calling from across the park” (https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/joys-birdwatching-lockdown-essay-richard-smyth/). And if you like Barbellion, you might like the recent episode of the “Backlisted podcast” (an old books podcast you can get on Apple Podcasts).   

In the meantime, we continue to press forward with our current circumstances. Some employees are reporting to our sites, keeping our gardens lovely and keeping our collections secure. Additional staff will be added to our sites in early June. We continue much of our business with a spike in the use of video conferencing tools such as Zoom. The important work of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council and Task Forces has also continued via Zoom. The Board of Trustees will meet as scheduled in mid-June, via Zoom. And afterward, on June 16, we will hold an all-staff meeting for everyone, also via Zoom. I look forward to the opportunity to share some of the great work that you are all continuing in support of our mission.

Take care and say safe. I look forward to seeing all of you, if virtually, in the coming weeks.  

Jim

 

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