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J. Paul Getty Trust, Getty Oral History Program Interviews Overseen/Conducted by Martin Meeker, University of California,
Berkeley, 2015-ongoing
IA10030
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Title: Getty Oral History Program interviews, overseen/conducted by Martin Meeker, University of California, Berkeley,
Date (inclusive): 2015-2018
Number: IA10030
Creator/Collector:
J. Paul Getty Trust
Physical Description:
1.5 Linear Feet
Physical Description:
252 GB
Repository:
The Getty Research Institute
Institutional Records and Archives
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles 90049-1688
reference@getty.edu
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10020/askref
(310) 440-7390
Abstract: Records currently consist of printed transcripts and flash drives containing Word, PDF, MP3 and MP4, wav, and raw video files,
dating 2015-2018, of the oral histories created as a part of the new 2015- Getty Oral History Program initiated by Trust President
James Cuno and overseen/conducted by Martin Meeker, oral historian with The Oral History Center, Bancroft Library, University
of California Berkeley.
Request Materials: To access physical materials at the Getty, go to the
library catalog record for this collection and click "Request an Item." Click here for
general library access policy . See the Administrative Information section of this finding aid for access restrictions specific to the records described
below. Please note, some of the records may be stored off site; advanced notice is required for access to these materials.
Language: Collection material is in
English
The Getty Oral History Program, 2015-ongoing
The J. Paul Getty Trust has had a number of internal oral history initiatives throughout its brief history. The projects
have fallen into rough categories of Interviews Regarding the Study of Art History (1986, 1988, 1990), Interviews with Art
Historians (1991-2002) and Interviews of Significant Getty Trustees and Staff, organized by historical period and institutional
role of interviewee (1999-2010). The interviewers of the first two categories were Richard Candida-Smith and, to a lesser
extent, Claire Lyons, while the interviewer of the third category was Eric Abrahamson.
The Getty is a young institution of major consequence in its field, perceived by many to be among the leaders - and sometimes
being the leader - in specific aspects of its field's work. Though informative, none of the earlier initiatives have fully
expressed the Getty's exceptional nature or addressed the transformative quality of its leadership. Additionally, many of
the earlier interviews are closed for the life of the participant and therefore currently unavailable for research. The new
2015-ongoing initiative, proposed by President and CEO James Cuno, is intended to fill these gaps, producing publicly accessible
interviews that discuss the Getty's extraordinary role in the world. Being a young institution, the Getty has access to all
but the very first generation of its predecessors and colleagues, making this a timely project.
In this Getty Oral History Project, oral histories will fall into two broad categories. The existing category "Interviews
of Significant Getty Trustees and Staff'' will be continued, commencing with the departure of former President and CEO Barry
Munitz in 2006, and using a thematic approach, e.g., "the resolution of the governance crisis in 2006-2007 (Attorney General
investigation, Los Angeles (LA) Times articles, etc.)," "the negotiations with Italy and Greece over the return of antiquities,"
"the hiring of Jim Wood as President/CEO," "the response to the financial crisis," "Jim Wood's tenure as President/CEO," "the
development of the individual Programs since 2006," and "reflections of the Trustees upon their departure," etc. In addition,
the existing categories "Interviews Regarding the Study of Art History" and "Interviews with Art Historians" will be combined
and expanded to include conservators, conservation scientists, relevant arts philanthropists, and art museum directors and
curators. The purpose of this category is to capture the current state of the field within which the Getty works and provide
a context for understanding the developing role of the Getty within it.
The Getty plans to work with Oral History Center (OHC) of the Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley,
to conduct thirty interviews annually, ten from Getty Staff and Trustees and twenty from leaders in its field, beginning with
three interviews as a pilot project to assess quality and direction. Within the Getty, internal oversight of the project vests
with a team comprised of the Getty's four Program Directors and Trust President, with the VP/COO/CFO, VP/General Counsel,
VP Communications, and VP Development providing advice, as necessary.
The J. Paul Getty Trust is a cultural and philanthropic institution dedicated to the presentation, conservation, and interpretation
of the world's artistic legacy. Through the collective and individual work of its constituent programs-the Getty Conservation
Institute, the Getty Foundation, the J. Paul Getty Museum, and the Getty Research Institute-the Getty pursues its mission
in Los Angeles and throughout the world, serving both the general interested public and a wide range of professional communities
in order to promote a vital civil society through an understanding of the visual arts.
The origins of the J. Paul Getty Trust date to 1953, when J. Paul Getty established the J. Paul Getty Museum as a California
charitable trust to house his growing art collections. Originally a small, private institution located in Mr. Getty's ranch
house near Malibu, the museum moved to the newly constructed Getty Villa in grounds adjacent to the ranch house in 1974. When
most of Mr. Getty's personal estate passed to the trust in 1982, the trustees decided that, given the size of the endowment,
it should make a contribution to the visual arts and humanities that would reach even beyond the museum. Out of this resolve
grew an expanded commitment to the arts in the general areas of scholarship, conservation, and education. Harold M. Williams
was the first president and CEO of the Trust, serving from 1981 through 1998. Williams supervised the Trust's development
of new programs, with the advice and recommendations of advisors such as Lani Duke and Nancy Englander. The programs included
the Center for the History of Arts and Humanities, Art History Information Institute, Conservation Institute, and Center for
Education in the Arts, as well as smaller programs, such as the Museum Management Institute and the Program for Art on Film.
In 1983 the Trust's name was changed from the J. Paul Getty Museum to the J. Paul Getty Trust to reflect its broader scope,
with the museum becoming an operating program of the Trust. As of 2010 the Trust supports and oversees four programs: the
J. Paul Getty Museum, the Getty Foundation, the Getty Conservation Institute, and the Getty Research Institute.
Due to expanded operations and limited space at the original J. Paul Getty Museum in Pacific Palisades (near Malibu), the
various programs of the J. Paul Getty Trust were located at different sites throughout the Los Angeles basin during the 1980s
and mid 1990s. The Trust's vision was to bring together most of their programs at a single site. A roughly 750-acre property
in Brentwood (west Los Angeles) was purchased by the Trust in 1983 and the following year the architectural firm Richard Meier
& Partners was chosen to design the Getty Center, to house the Trust, its newly created programs, and an additional space
for the Museum. Currently, the J. Paul Getty Trust and Getty programs serve a varied audience from both locations: the Getty
Center in Los Angeles and the Getty Villa near Malibu, California.
The Oral History Center, Bancroft Library, University of California Berkeley
Since 1954 the Oral History Center of the Bancroft Library, formerly the Regional Oral History Office, has been interviewing
leading participants in or well-placed witnesses to major events in the development of Northern California, the West, and
the nation. Oral history is a method of collecting historical information through recorded interviews between a narrator with
firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well-informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive
additions to the historical record. The recording is transcribed, lightly edited for continuity and clarity, and reviewed
by the interviewee. The corrected manuscript is bound with photographs and illustrative materials and placed in The Bancroft
Library at the University of California, Berkeley, and in other research collections for scholarly use. Because it is primary
material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account,
offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is reflective, partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable.
The 2015-ongoing Getty Oral History Program Interviews are unrestricted and open to the public.
The following types of records are permanently closed: records containing personal information, records that compromise security
or operations, legal communications, legal work product, and records related to donors. The J. Paul Getty Trust reserves the
right to restrict access to any records held by the Institutional Archives.
[Cite the item and series (as appropriate)], Getty Oral History Program 2015-ongoing, J. Paul Getty Trust in collaboration
with the the Oral History Center, Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. Institutional Archives, Research
Library, Getty Research Institute, Finding aid no. IA10030.
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifaia10030
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The records in 2016.IA.34 were deposited with the Institutional Archives in March 2016 (additional clarifications and finalized
sets were deposited in March 2017).
The records in 2017.IA.61 were deposited with the Institutional Archives in July 2017.
The transcripts in 2018.IA.76 were deposited with the Institutional Archives in December 2018 (digital files were not included
at that time) .
This finding aid was created by Nancy Enneking in March 2016 and updated in March and July 2017, and in December 2018.
Existence and Location of Copies
In addition to being made available at their home at the Getty, approved interview transcripts along with selected approved
video clips drawn from interviews will be posted to the OHC website and cataloged by The Bancroft Library, and listed in the
MELVYL and OSKICAT catalogs. The OHC will work with the Getty to publicize the release of the interviews and to encourage
the use of the materials by scholars, journalists, activists, and the public at large at a date agreeable to all parties.
J. Paul Getty Trust Oral History Transcripts, 1999-2010. Institutional Archives, Getty Research Institute, Finding aid no.
IA10024.
Interviews with Art Historians, 1991-2002. Getty Research Institute, Accession no. 940109.
Art Education History Archives Project, 1998-1999, Getty Education Institute. Institutional Archives, Getty Research Institute,
Finding aid no. IA20034.
Scope and Content of Collection
Records currently consist of printed transcripts and flash drives containing Word, PDF, MP3 and MP4, wav, and raw video files,
dating 2015-2018, of the oral histories created as a part of the new 2015- Getty Oral History Program initiated by Trust President
James Cuno and conducted by Martin Meeker, oral historian with The Oral History Center (OHC), Bancroft Library, University
of California Berkeley. Interviews and video clips may be viewed under the
Getty Trust project on the Berkeley Oral History Center website.
All interviews are recorded on high-quality digital video. Each interview is transcribed in its entirety. Draft transcripts
are lightly edited by OHC staff and then provided to each interviewee for his/her review and approval. At this point, interviewees
are given the opportunity to edit, delete, and/or seal all or portions of their transcript (to the extent permissible under
law) for a designated period of time as well. OHC staff then prepare a final transcript, which entails entering the interviewee's
edits and preparing a discursive table of contents; if portions of a transcript have been sealed, OHC will prepare two transcripts:
an expurgated version for immediate public release and an unexpurgated version that will be placed under seal until the designated
release date. Interviewee-approved transcripts are then provided to the Getty to review prior to public release. The Getty
has the right to determine if individual transcripts and accompanying audio/visual files (or portions thereof) should be sealed
or otherwise put into limited public release (e.g. available only in research libraries) for a designated period time as well.
No single transcript or accompanying audiovisual file will be published, deposited in an archive, or otherwise made available
to the public until both the interviewee and the Getty provide formal approval. The goal of these measures is to create an
environment in which interviewees feel secure in providing as candid and incisive interviews as possible and to protect any
proprietary information that may be included in the interviews.
Records are organized into two series:
I. Interviews with the arts community, 2015-2017;
II. Interviews of significant Getty trustees and staff, 2016-2018.
Getty Conservation Institute
J. Paul Getty Museum
Historic sites -- Conservation and restoration
Art objects -- Conservation and restoration
Artists -- United States -- 20th century
Ruscha, Edward
Meeker, Martin
J. Paul Getty Trust
Agnew, Neville,, 1938-
Druzik, James R.
Irwin, Robert, 1928-