J. Paul Getty Trust

The J. Paul Getty Trust has the most money of any art institution in the world. In April 2009, it owns $US 4.2 billion.  The Trust's office is in Los Angeles, California. It operates the J. Paul Getty Museum at two locations, the Getty Center in Los Angeles and the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades district of Los Angeles, California. The Trust's other programs are the Getty Foundation, the Getty Research Institute, and the Getty Conservation Institute.

The trust operates one of the most visited museums in the United States and gets 1.3 million visitors per year. The trust also provides grants and training to other museums and cultural institutions. The trust has a library, publications program and visiting scholar program. The trust's conservation program works to improve conservation practice through the creation and delivery of knowledge. However, since 2008, the trust has scaled back the scope of its activities in response to financial challenges.

History

J. Paul Getty started the J. Paul Getty Museum Trust in 1953. Getty had already started the Getty Oil Company, and he was richest Americans in the 1950's.List of 76 said to hold above 75 millions. New York Times, October 28, 1957. He had more than $2 billion when he died.Lenzner, Robert. The great Getty: the life and loves of J. Paul Getty, richest man in the world. New York: Crown Publishers, 1985.   Getty died in 1976Whitman, Alden. J. Paul Getty dead at 83; amassed billions from oil. New York Times, June 6, 1976. Retrieved September 6, 2008. He left most of his property, including nearly $660 million worth of stock in Getty Oil, to the J. Paul Getty Museum Trust. Legal conflicts over the will took years to resolve, but in 1982 the trust finally received all of the money that Getty. The trust began to add some new programs in 1982. In February 1983, it changed its name to the J. Paul Getty Trust.Miller, Russell, House of Getty (London: BBC Audiobooks America, 1987); ARTnews, April 1984.

In 1997, Barry Munitz became the president and CEO of the trust.Vince Stehle, "New View From the Top of the Art World's Hill,' The Chronicle of Philanthropy, October 22, 1998, pp. 9–10. He began work in January 1998, succeeding Harold M. Williams, the first president of the Getty Trust, who oversaw construction of the $1 billion Getty Center designed by architect Richard Meier.Kurt Andersen, "A City on a Hill," The New Yorker, September 29, 1997, pp. 66–72.  With an endowment of $4.2 billion, the Getty Trust is the wealthiest art institution in the world.Edward Wyatt, "Getty Fees and Budget Reassessed," The New York TImes, April 30, 2009, p. C1.  Early in his tenure, Munitz reorganized the Getty Trust, closing two of the institution's six programs – the Getty Information Institute and the Getty Education Institute. To deal with long-run financial issues, he sought to cultivate relationships with donors and corporate partners. His leadership became increasingly controversial as the Getty Trust was embroiled in numerous controversies relating to the provenance of various antiquities in the Getty Museum's collections and Munitz' expense account. In the midst of an investigation by the California Attorney General,
Munitz resigned in 2006 and was forced to "forgo his severance package of more than $2 million, and reimburse the Getty Trust for $250,000 after alleged improprieties including lavish expense account spending."Martin Filler, "The Getty: For Better and Worse." The New York Review of Books, November 16, 2006, p. 47.

On December 4, 2006, the trust hired of art historian James N. Wood, the former Director of the Art Institute of Chicago to be the trust's new president and CEO. Wood replaced Barry Munitz, who was forced to step down earlier in the year.The Big Payoff , Time.Wood to Take Over J. Paul Getty Trust, The Washington Post. In 2009, the trust's assets dropped in value, and Wood cut nearly 100 employees at the trust's various operations, most at the Getty Museum. Fees for parking at the museum and the Getty Villa were raised by 50% to $15.Wyatt, Ed. "Getty Fees and Budget Are Reassessed", The New York Times, April 29, 2009. Accessed June 21, 2010. Wood died suddenly of natural causes on June 12, 2010.Roderick, Kevin. James N. Wood, Getty Trust CEO was 69, LA Observed, June 12, 2010. Accessed June 12, 2010.  In May 2011, the trust hired  James Cuno, director of the Art Institute of Chicago as president and chief executive of the Getty Trust, to take office in August.

Programs
The J. Paul Getty Museum is an art museum.About the J. Paul Getty Trust. . Retrieved August 15, 2008. It has two locations, one at the Getty Center in Los Angeles, California, and one at the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, California. The museum at the Getty Center contains "Western art from the Middle Ages to the present;" its estimated 1.3 million visitors annually makes it one of the most visited museums in the United States.Baedeker, Rob.  America's 25 most visited museums.  ForbesTraveler.com, September 21, 2007. Retrieved August 28, 2008. The museum at the Getty Villa contains art from "ancient Greece, Rome, and Etruria".Visit The Getty Center Los Angeles and The Getty Villa Malibu.. Retrieved August 15, 2008. The museum started as J. Paul Getty's personal art collection.

The Getty Foundation was originally called the "Getty Grant Program," which began in 1984 under the direction of Deborah Marrow.Muchnic, Suzanne. Director wants a wider reach for Getty grants. Los Angeles Times, March 5, 1990. The J. Paul Getty Trust can spend up to 0.75% of its endowment on gifts and grants; by 1990 the Getty Grant Program (then based in Santa Monica) had made 530 grants totaling $20 million to "art historians, conservators and art museums in 18 countries". For example, a foundation grant funded the restoration of the Cosmati Pavement in the floor of Westminster Abbey. For many years, the foundation conducted the Getty Leadership Institute (GLI).  The major GLI program is the Museum Leadership Institute (MLI), formerly known as the Museum Management Institute, which "has served close to 1,000 museum professionals from the United States and 30 countries worldwide".Getty Foundation. About the Getty Leadership Institute.  Retrieved September 18, 2008. However, effective on January 2, 2010, the GLI was transferred to the Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, California and was renamed "The Getty Leadership Institute at Claremont Graduate University".

The Getty Research Institute (GRI), located at the Getty Center in Los Angeles, California, is "dedicated to furthering knowledge and advancing understanding of the visual arts".About the Research Institute (Research at the Getty) Retrieved August 31, 2008.  GRI maintains a research library, organizes exhibitions and other events, sponsors a residential scholars program, publishes books, and maintains electronic databases including a Semantic Web service. The GRI was originally called the "Getty Center for the History of Art and the Humanities", and was conceived as early as 1983.Isenberg, Barbara. Manuscripts rated top Getty acquisition. Los Angeles Times, March 10, 1983. Among other holdings, GRI's research library contains about 900,000 volumes of books, periodicals, and auction catalogs; special collections; and two million photographs of art and architecture.Research Library Overview (Research at the Getty). Retrieved August 31, 2008. The library also includes the trust's "Institutional Archives" which document the activities of the trust's various programs.

The Getty Conservation Institute (GCI) is headquartered at the Getty Center but also has facilities at the Getty Villa, and commenced operation in 1985.J. Paul Getty Trust. About the Conservation Institute. Retrieved August 24, 2008. The GCI is a private international research institution dedicated to advancing conservation practice through the creation and delivery of knowledge. It "serves the conservation community through scientific research, education and training, model field projects, and the dissemination of the results of both its own work and the work of others in the field" and "adheres to the principles that guide the work of the Getty Trust: service, philanthropy, teaching, and access". GCI has activities in both art conservation and architectural conservation.Adams, Eric. The Getty's conservation mission. Architecture, December 1997, vol. 86, issue 12. GCI scientists study the deterioration of objects and buildings, and how to prevent or stop such deterioration.Getty Conservation Institute. About GCI Science. Retrieved August 26, 2008. GCI has also been involved with long-term education programs, such as establishing a Master's degree program in Archaeological and Ethnographic Conservation in collaboration with the University of California, Los Angeles.A.M.H.S. New conservation program. Archaeology, May/June 1999, vol. 52, issue 3.Cotsen Institute of Archaeology. The UCLA/Getty Conservation Program. Retrieved August 26, 2008.

From 1983 to June 1999, the Trust ran the Getty Information Institute (GII) which sought to collect electronic information to serve cultural heritage institution and researchers. Together with the American Council of Learned Societies GII sought to build a broad coalition of non-profits to establish a National Initiative for a Networked Cultural Heritage. Upon the dissolution of the GII, its data bases were transferred to the Getty Research Institute.

Governance
The Getty Trust Indenture dated December 2, 1953 made a California charitable trust for "the diffusion of artistic and general knowledge." The trust is governed by a 13-member board of trustees. Trustees are elected to serve four-year terms, with a maximum limit of three terms. The board is self-perpetuating with the board electing or re-electing the trustees.Getty Trust Bylaws, Section 2.2. Retrieved May 1, 2011. The board holds an annual meeting in May or June of each year.Getty Trust Bylaws, Section 2.6. Retrieved May 1, 2011. Although the board conducts most of its work through committees, a number of important decisions are reserved for the entire board including approval of any art acquisition costing more than $1 million.Getty Trust Bylaws, Section 3.2. Retrieved May 1, 2011.

On October 2, 2006, the California Attorney General issued a report following an investigation of the trust and its operations. At the close of the investigation an independent monitor was hired to assure proper governance and expenditures of the trust. On May 7, 2008, the Attorney General closed the monitoring process.

The trust was hurt by the economic downturn following 2007 and has reduced its annual budget by 14%. In 2007, the trust had $6.4 billion in endowment, but this amount dropped to $4.5 billion in 2009. In 2009, the trust had $300 million in expenses down from $349 million in 2008. For example, GRI co-produced the Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals with the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, but transferred that activity to Columbia University on July 1, 2009.

References

 Other websites 

 Hoovers Online Article
 Records and archives administrative records, 1980–1990 The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, California. The records reflect the early development of the records management and archives policies and practices for the emerging J. Paul Getty Trust.
 Press relations records, 1954–2007 The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, California. The records comprise press releases and press clippings issued by and about the J. Paul Getty Trust and J. Paul Getty Museum, 1954–2007.