Dear Colleagues,

We write to you today to provide an update on Getty activities in light of rising COVID-19 cases in the Los Angeles region, and to express our gratitude to all of you for your steady dedication over the past many months.

It is clear that much of the United States, including California and the Los Angeles region, are experiencing a “third wave” of confirmed COVID cases, with cases rising exponentially and at a rate beyond what we saw at the peak in August. We have not seen the same rise in cases among our staff. We continue to conduct biweekly testing for everyone coming to work on our sites. After many weeks and thousands of tests conducted, we’ve had only two positive test results in our on-site testing, back when the testing first began. We are confident in our safety practices at all of our Getty locations, including cleaning, reduced occupancy and social distancing, and county health officials who have visited say they are pleased with our efforts.

But as public health officials have said emphatically this week, this is not a time to become complacent about staying safe. In advance of the Thanksgiving week, when we hope many of you will be taking a well-deserved pause, we want to remind all Getty staff of our travel protocol. Our travel policy is unchanged since the pandemic began—we require everyone to quarantine for two weeks after any travel, before returning to work on site. This now mirrors the recent state guidance for travel of all types, within California and out of state.

This week’s increased COVID-19 restrictions throughout the state, and the continuation of Los Angeles County in the strictest “purple” category for reopening, means the Museum will not reopen to the public in January as we had hoped. 

The good news is that everyone’s hard work and planning in recent months means we will be able to reopen our permanent collection galleries to the public on relatively short notice, as soon as LA County declares it safe to do so. The special exhibitions program is a more complex situation that involves ongoing negotiations with lenders, venues, partners and others. Major exhibitions planned for spring 2021 will likely be rescheduled or, if necessary, cancelled.  

We are appreciative of all of the effort that has been involved in preparing us to reopen in January, and we share your disappointment. It has been a long closure, a long time since we’ve been able to welcome visitors, and a long time since we’ve been able to be together. We’re grateful to have been able to avoid layoffs or furloughs of any staff and continue to make preserving jobs our highest priority. 

We are also so very appreciative for—and proud of—the dedication of all Getty staff over the past nearly nine months in keeping our core operations functioning, keeping our grounds and collections maintained and safe, maintaining our programs virtually and sharing our content with the world digitally. You have done this all while also helping to advance diversity, equity, accessibility and inclusion at Getty.

It is incumbent upon all of us to continue to do all we can, both at home and at work, to stay safe and help prevent a worse situation in our neighborhoods and communities. We all share responsibility for reducing the spread of COVID, including avoiding multi-household gatherings and following the latest status and direction from public health officials. We will miss our customary holiday celebration this December, but please look for an update soon on our plans to continue some of our end-of-year traditions. While Thanksgiving will not be celebrated as we might like this year, we wish you a healthy, safe, restorative holiday next week.

With gratitude,

Jim Cuno and Steve Olsen