J. Paul Getty Trust Press Releases and Public Outreach Materials, 1954-1959, 1973-2022

Summary

Title:

J. Paul Getty Trust press releases and public outreach materials

Dates:

1954-1959, 1973-2022

Creators:

J. Paul Getty Trust. Communications Department

Abstract:

The records comprise press releases, event calendars, magazines published by the Getty, presentations to the press and public, and other materials created and disseminated by the J. Paul Getty Museum and the J. Paul Getty Trust, 1954-1959 and 1973-2022 (bulk 1983-2022). The records contain analog and digital files documenting the events and activities the Getty wished to publicize to the media and the public.

Extent:

28.46 Linear Feet (50 boxes) and 2.2026 GB (2,483 files)

Language:

Collection material is in English.

Preferred citation:

J. Paul Getty Trust press releases and public outreach materials, 1954-1959, 1973-2022 (bulk 1983-2022). Institutional Records and Archives. The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, IA10011.

http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifaia10011

Background

Scope and content:

These records comprise press releases, press kits, event calendars, magazines, reports, recordings, and advertisements. Records were created and published by the J. Paul Getty Museum and the J. Paul Getty Trust and date from 1954 to 1959 and 1973 to 2022 (bulk 1983-2022). The collection includes original, photocopied, and digital (.pdf, .mht, .mhtml, and MP3) files. The materials, intended to publicize Getty events and activities to the media and the public, were disseminated by the J. Paul Getty Museum (1954-1982), the Department of Public Affairs (1983-1999), and the Communications Department (2000-present). The organization issued relatively few press releases until the construction of the Villa Museum in 1974, and it is uncertain if any exist from 1960 to 1972. An increase in press release production came in the early 1980s with the expansion of the trust and its operations.

Subjects include acquisitions; administration; awards, including Getty Medal recipients; building projects; collaborative projects; cultural property conservation and restoration; exhibitions; grant awards; logistical advisories; organizational initiatives; publication announcements; public and scholarly events; senior personnel and board of trustees appointments; and others. Of note are the J. Paul Getty Museum 1954 opening press release, transcriptions of news articles regarding the opening that were published in local media outlets, opening day remarks, and event flow for the opening day reception; and various press kits documenting the building of the Getty Center in Brentwood, including site and architect selection, center design, construction, and the 1997 opening. All Getty programs, including those no longer in operation, are represented.

While the number of materials in this collection is extensive, it is not presumed that they are comprehensive for any given subject or year, excepting digital press releases dating 2016 to 2022.

Organization

These records are organized into six series:

Series I. Chronological press releases, 1954-1959, 1973-2022;

Series II. Press releases, subject files, 1974-2002, 2006;

Series III. Press kits, 1954, 1973, 1983-1984, 1989-2020;

Series IV. Calendars, 1988-1991, 1999, 2016-2022;

Series V. Magazines, reports, and recordings, 1986-1997, 2012-2022;

Series VI. Advertisements, 1997-2004.

Biographical / historical:

The J. Paul Getty Trust's origins 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 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 greater contribution to the visual arts and humanities than the museum could alone. Out of this resolve grew an expanded commitment to the arts in the general areas of scholarship, conservation, and education. This took the shape of new programs including the Center for the History of Art and Humanities (GCHAH), Art History Information Institute (AHIP), Conservation Institute, Grant Program, and Center for Education in the Arts (GCEA). Smaller programs include the Museum Management Institute (MMI), a joint venture with the Art Museum Association of America, and the Program for Art on Film, a joint venture with the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In 1983 the trust's corporate 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. On December 16, 1997 the Getty Center, a new unified facility housing all Getty programs, was opened in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, CA.

As the trust matured several of the programs underwent administrative and functional reorganizations resulting in name changes or dissolutions. AHIP's name was changed to the Getty Information Institute (GII) in 1996 as part of a new identity program instituted by the Trust just prior to occupancy of their new unified facility. To avoid confusion with the soon-to-open Getty Center in Brentwood, GCHAH was renamed the Getty Research Institute for the History of Art and the Humanities in 1996. Three years later the program's name was shortened to the Getty Research Institute (GRI). The GII was dissolved in 1999 and many of its functions were absorbed by the Getty Research Institute (GRI). The Getty Center for Education in the Arts (GCEA) changed its name to the Getty Education Institute for the Arts (GEI) in 1996, and was disbanded in 1998. In 1996, Program for Art on Film was transferred to the Pratt Institute and the Trust ended its affiliation with the program. The Getty Leadership Institute (GLI) was created in 1996 to administer museum executive education programs, including the Museum Management Institute (MMI). Administration of GLI programs was transferred to the Claremont Graduate University in 2010. The Grant Program changed its name to the Foundation in January 2005.

J. Paul Getty Museum press material was prepared and distributed by Museum curator Paul Wescher from 1954-1959. Press release production was not officially institutionalized until 1974 with the creation of the Public Information department and the appointment of Deborah Ashin as Public Affairs Director, although some press releases are dated from 1973. From 1979 to 1997 museum press releases were consistently rendered from Public Information, and in 1983 the Department of Public Affairs was created to issue press releases on behalf of the J. Paul Getty Trust and its non-museum programs. The Department of Public Affairs reported directly to trust leadership, whereas Public Information reported to the museum. In 1998 the Department of Public Affairs began issuing press releases on behalf of the museum and responsibility for the organization's press release function was placed in a single department. The Department of Public Affairs name was changed to Communications in 2000. With the hiring of Pamela Johnson in August 2002, the department head role was elevated to the level of Vice President, reporting to the President and CEO.

Although the Communications department had been creating digital (.pdf files) press releases for some time, systematic annual collection of the materials by Institutional Archives began in 2015.

J. Paul Getty Museum and J. Paul Getty Trust Director of Public Affairs, and J. Paul Getty Trust Vice President, Communications include:

• 1974-1982: Deborah Ashin, Public Affairs Director
• 1983-1994: Phillipa Calnan, Public Affairs Director
• 1995-2001: Lori Starr, Public Affairs Director
• 2001-August 2002: Jill K. Murphy, Interim Head of Communications and President's Chief of Staff
• August 2002-2005: Pamela Johnson, Vice President Communications
• 2005-July 2018: Ron Hartwig, Vice President Communications
• September 2018-present: Lisa Lapin, Vice President Communications

Acquisition information:

The records in this finding aid originated in accessions 1986.IA.56, 2001.IA.06, 2007.IA.06, 2007.IA.10, 2007.IA.34, 2010.IA.26, 2013.IA.66, 2014.IA.16, 2015.IA.03, 2016.IA.03, 2016.IA.28, 2017.IA.03, 2018.IA.03, 2018.IA.15, 2019.IA.03, 2020 .IA.04, 2021.IA.04, 2021.IA.29, and 2022.IA.04.

Appraisal information:

Duplicate materials were weeded to the extent possible; however, some duplication is to be expected.

Processing information:

Records inventoried and finding aid created by Nancy Enneking and Rebecca Fenning, March 2007, Kyle Morgan, August 2008 and July 2009, and Jennifer Thompson, September 2014 through November 2014, and March 2015 through May 2015.

Annual accruals added by Jennifer Thompson, February 2016 and February 2017, and Tatevick Shahinyan, October 2018 through June 2019.

Annual accruals added and finding aid updated by Jennifer Thompson, April 2020, January 2021, October 2021, July 2021, September 2022, and February 2023.

Accruals:

The Institutional Archives regularly receives public relations materials from the Getty Communications Department. These are integrated into this guide at regular intervals.

Physical / technical requirements:

Access to digital files in 2014.IA.16, 2015.IA.03, 2016.IA.03, 2017.IA.03, 2018.IA.03, 2019.IA.03, 2020.IA.04, 2021.IA.04, and 2022.IA.04 is available online through the links provided in the inventory.

Physical location:

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.

Rules or conventions:

Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Related resources

Related material:

The following materials are offered as possible sources of further information on the agencies and subjects covered by the records. The listing is not exhaustive.

Getty Institutional Archives

J. Paul Getty Museum Department of Public Information and Visitor Services Records, 1973-1981, 1984-1991, undated. J. Paul Getty Museum Department of Public Affairs. Getty Research Institute, Finding aid no. IA20007.

J. Paul Getty Trust Communications exhibition and programming publicity development records, 1989, 1997, 2000-2010. J. Paul Getty Trust Communciations Department. Getty Research Institute, Finding aid no. IA20041.

J. Paul Getty Trust Communications Department images, 1981-2005 (bulk 1990-1999), undated. J. Paul Getty Trust Communications Department. Getty Research Institute, Finding aid no. IA30003.

J. Paul Getty Trust, Communications Department audio and video recordings, 1973-2004. J. Paul Getty Trust Communications Department. Getty Research Institute, Finding aid no. IA30004.

J. Paul Getty Trust press clippings, 1954-2019, undated (bulk 1983-2019). J. Paul Getty Trust Communications Department. Getty Research Institute, Finding aid no. IA30017.

Alternative form available:

Final versions of hard-copy press releases issued by the Getty from 1954-1959 and 1973-2006 have been scanned, processed using uncorrected optical character recognition (OCR), and saved as .pdf-a files. The contents of each folder have been scanned as a single .pdf; depending on the contents of the folder each .pdf may be a single press release or multiple releases. The links to these electronic versions appear beneath the folder titles in the Series I. Chronological press releases, and Series II. Press releases, subject files inventory for the years 1954-1959 and 1983-2004; records dating 2005-2006 have been partially scanned. Internal word-searchability of the .pdf files varies depending on the consistency of the font and on the quality and background color of the original release. Please note that all material in the folders that was not a final Getty-issued press release was not scanned, including drafts, memos, correspondence, photos, and releases issued by other organizations.

Indexed terms

Subjects:

Nonprofit organizations -- Employees
Research institutes
Humanities -- Information technology
Museum trustees
Museums -- Acquisitions
Art -- Scholarships, fellowships, etc.
Cultural property -- Conservation and restoration
Art -- Conservation and restoration
Art in education
Special events
Nonprofit organizations
Museums -- Press coverage
Art -- Exhibitions
Art museums -- Public relations
Art museums -- Design and construction
Advertising campaigns -- United States
Press releases
Memorandums
Brochures
Calendars
Announcements
Ephemera
Exhibition announcements
Electronic documents
Magazines (periodicals)

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:

Nancy Enneking, Rebecca Fenning, Kyle Morgan, and Jennifer Thompson

Date Encoded:

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-04-12 11:31:11 -0700 .

Restrictions:

All records described in this finding aid are available for use by qualified researchers.

The following 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.

Terms of access:

Contact Library Rights and Reproductions at the Getty Research Institute for copyright information and permission to publish.

Contact Library Rights and Reproductions at the Getty Research Institute for copyright information and permission to publish.

Preferred citation:

J. Paul Getty Trust press releases and public outreach materials, 1954-1959, 1973-2022 (bulk 1983-2022). Institutional Records and Archives. The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, IA10011.

http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifaia10011

Location of this collection:

Getty Research Institute, Institutional Archives

1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100

Los Angeles, CA 90049-1688, US

Contact:

(310) 440-7390

Website