Getty

Twenty‑four conservation professionals gathered in Melbourne for Treatment Strategies for Painted Outdoor Sculpture, a five‑day workshop organized by the Getty Conservation Institute in collaboration with the National Gallery of Victoria and the University of Melbourne. Now in its third iteration, the course brought together an international cohort and instructors from the US and across Australia to tackle the complex challenges of painted outdoor sculpture, combining technical expertise with critical observation. The week began with close looking: touring NGV’s sculpture collection and public artworks in the City of Melbourne to sharpen participants’ ability to spot and diagnose artwork conditions caused by weathering, the method of paint application, and site environment. ����🖼️: 1. The workshop cohort under Yayoi Kusama’s monumental painted bronze, Dancing Pumpkin, 2020. Photo credit: Predrag Cancar. Courtesy of Yayoi Kusama Inc. 2. Participants learn about the history of NGV's mixed media sculpture Noble Ape by Louise Paramor during a lecture by conservator Di Whittle in the museum’s conservation labs. Photo credit: Garry Sommerfeld. Courtesy of Louise Paramor. 3. Examining painted elements of the public concrete sculpture Monument Park by Callum Morton. Courtesy of City of Melbourne. 4. Discussing a potential maintenance plan for the public fiberglass sculpture Silence by Aidan Mauriks. Courtesy of City of Melbourne. 5. Examining the surface of painted bronze Meeting I by Wang Shugang. Photo credit: MaryJo Lelyveld. Courtesy of City of Melbourne. 6. Paint losses are a common occurrence with this type of work. Photo credit: Susanne Rawson. Courtesy of City of Melbourne. 7. Wrapping up the day with a ride on Melbourne's historic W-class tram. Photo credit: Kasi Albert.

Last week, Getty Foundation staff gathered in New York with grantees from across the country for a Black Visual Arts Archives convening. Over four days, we explored the vital work of uncovering, preserving, and activating archival collections that document the contributions of Black artists in the United States. We dove into the challenges and opportunities of this work and reinforced this growing community dedicated to stewarding Black visual arts archives. We're deeply grateful for everyone who stepped away from their busy work schedules to attend. A special thank you to Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library for hosting and sharing their special centennial exhibitions and merch (visit and check it out!), and Bob Gore for photographing the event. Do you know someone who works with collections related to Black visual arts? Grant support is available for archival processing and public programming—find details here: https://lnkd.in/genQG59e All photos: Black Visual Arts Archives Convening, 2026. Photos by Bob Gore

Your first look at the new Getty Center! These renderings show plans for the largest modernization effort since the Getty Center's opening in 1997. Our goals are to improve your visitor experience, enhance accessibility, and strength energy resilience. This means upgrades to the parking and arrival area (Lower Tram), a new tram itself, and renovation to the Center's Welcome Hall. Read more about what's changing: https://gty.art/49X8eTk

📣 Applications are now open for “Prints Across the Pacific, 1565–1815,” a Connecting Art Histories project exploring print culture as a key medium of cultural exchange across the early modern Pacific. UCLA CMRS Center for Early Global Studies invites early to mid-career scholars based in Southeast Asia and Latin America working in art history, book history, literature, curation, librarianship, and related fields to apply. Selected participants (12–15 total) will join three fully funded international seminars in Manila, Mexico City/Puebla, and Madrid/Rome, featuring collaborative research, site visits, and discussions on global print histories. Submit materials to sporras@tulane.edu and devinfitzgerald@library.ucla.edu by June 22, 2026. Learn more about the program and application process: https://lnkd.in/eSEnABZQ 🗺️: Carta hydrographica y chorographica de las Yslas Filipinas : dedicada al Rey Nuestro Señor por el Mariscal d. Campo D. Fernando Valdes Tamon Cavallo del Orden de Santiago de Govor. Y Capn. Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division

Join us for a free webinar: Shifting Perspectives on Damage, Change, and Value 📅 Thursday, June 11 ⏰ 9:00–10:30 AM (PST) 🎟️ Registration required: https://gty.art/3Pza4D0 Hosted by the American Institute for Conservation's Microfading Tester International Discussion Group and Preventive Care Network, this webinar explores the boundaries between material change, damage, and value, revealing how museum policies can shift from the reduction of risk for material loss at all costs to the creation of value through increasing object access, visibility, and connection. While scientific tools offer more precise ways to detect material change, recognizing that damage is a value-based judgment, rather than an objective outcome, becomes critical. This webinar extends the discussion from the session of the same name at the 2026 AIC/CAC-ACCR annual meeting. 🔗 Learn more: https://bit.ly/3RAQ7w9

Did you know that, despite the abundance of Black heritage sites worldwide, only about 3 percent of sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places recognize Black history? In Los Angeles, just over 4 percent of the city’s 1,319 designated landmarks are associated with African American history. To help address this disparity, the Getty Foundation partnered with the National Trust for Historic Preservation African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund to launch Conserving Black Modernism, a $4.6 million grant program supporting the preservation of modern sites designed by Black architects and designers across the United States. Complementing this national effort, the Getty Conservation Institute is collaborating locally with the City of Los Angeles’s Office of Historic Resources to advance the African American Historic Places Los Angeles project, which empowers communities to identify, document, and steward their own heritage. Learn more about these endeavors: 🔗 https://gty.art/4dRwNU2 📷: Bill Sampson (left) performs with a band at Jack’s Basket Room, the famed South Central after-hours jazz club known as “the place where everyone comes to play.” Courtesy of the Tom & Ethel Bradley Center, CSUN 📷: Conserving Black Modernism workshop attendees review materials from the Paul R. Williams Collection. The Getty Research Institute holds the archive of architect Paul R. Williams (1894–1980), the first African American AIA member, including original sketches, drawings, and personal papers. Jointly owned by the USC School of Architecture and the Getty Research Institute. © Della M. Williams Trust. Dated December 15, 1988 📷: Exterior of the Dunbar Hotel, the historic Black-owned landmark that anchored Central Avenue’s 1930s–’40s jazz scene and was later restored as part of the Dunbar Village redevelopment. Cbl62, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons 📷: Conserving Black Modernism workshop attendees touring Carson City Hall, a Late Modern architectural gem designed by a diverse team led by prominent Black architect Robert Kennard.

Getty is pleased to announce the 2026–2027 cohort of Getty Scholars, continuing a long-standing tradition of supporting innovative, interdisciplinary research in the arts and humanities. For the 2026–2027 academic year, Getty Research Institute scholars will explore provenance and related inquiries of research. Getty scholars at the Villa will address the theme of Religious Experience in Antiquity, focusing on the diversity of faiths and rituals. Getty Conservation Institute grantees will pursue projects related to the cultural heritage conservation field. Additionally, Connecting Art Histories Scholars (Getty Foundation) and Museum Scholars do not adhere to an annual theme and will be engaged in critical inquiry about art history and related fields in regions where it's an emerging discipline and whose expertise is rooted in local traditions and cultural stewardship. Since 1985, the Getty Scholars Program has provided a dynamic platform for international scholars to pursue research on art and its histories. By fostering collaboration across disciplines, the program cultivates new perspectives and expands audiences for scholarly work. Scholars in residence benefit from unparalleled access to Getty’s world-class collections and join a global community dedicated to intellectual exchange. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gxUUm_rm

Join us Friday, May 29 at 12pm for Show & Tell: Harry Smith Archive, featuring art-making activities and a curator talk. Celebrate Harry Smith’s (1923–1991) birthday and the closing weekend of “Brain Drawings: The Art of Harry Smith” on view at The Philosophical Research Society. We will examine Smith’s archival materials in the Getty Research Institute’s collection including paper airplanes, tarot cards, pop-up books, and string figures. There will also be drop-in art-making stations inspired by Smith’s whimsical personal collection of paper airplanes. Exhibition curator Rani Singh will share insights into Smith’s experimental pursuits and radical nonconformity that has inspired artists for generations. RSVP here: https://lnkd.in/gnT5ed5a

Join us Sunday, May 31 at 3pm for a “La Llorona” film screening and talk. Directed by Guatemalan filmmaker Jayro Bustamante, “La Llorona” (2019) is a fictionalized take on the the country’s genocide trials in which former dictator Efraín Ríos Montt was found guilty of human rights violations and crimes against humanity. Playing with the horror film genre and the legend of La Llorona, Bustamante shows how collective Indigenous memory still haunts not just the dictator, but his family and society, in the collective search for justice. The film stars María Mercedes Coroy and María Telón, two of Guatemala’s best-known contemporary actors of Maya Kaqchikel descent. This screening will be followed by an interview with actress María Mercedes Coroy conducted by William R., public program coordinator at the Getty Research Institute. It will be followed by a presentation by Alicia Ivonne Estrada, professor of Chicana/o Studies at California State University, Northridge, whose work centers Central American history, Maya cultural production, literature, and radio. This event is part of the Getty Research Institute’s Latinx and Latin American Art Initiative, which currently focuses on Central America and its diasporas. RSVP here: https://lnkd.in/ghHvs8Hf

Ofelia and Rosanna Esparza: Film Screening and Artist Q&A 🗓️ Saturday, June 6, 2026 🕒 3:00 pm 📍Getty Center and Online Free 🔗 RSVP to attend in person or online: https://gty.art/4umwXsz Long recognized for their role in helping establish and sustain Día de los Muertos traditions in the city, Ofelia Esparza and her daughter, Rosanna Esparza Ahrens, have shaped the practice of creating ofrendas, or altars, as both a communal ritual and a contemporary art form. In the short film, "Ofelia and Rosanna Esparza: Made to Remember" (11:55 min), they reflect on the ofrenda as both cultural obligation and art: a bridge between the living and the dead, and between the stories of generations past and those yet to come. Following the screening, Ofelia and Rosanna Esparza will join Los Angeles County's Civic Art Conservation and Collections Manager Laleña Vellanoweth for a conversation on the conservation of their work and audience Q&A. This film is part of the Artist Dialogues series. 🖼️ "Raíces Cósmicas" (Cosmic Roots) by Ofelia Esparza, 2018. 📸 Courtesy of the Artist and the Vincent Price Art Museum