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The Getty has a nearly-three-decades-long reputation of being an unabashedly wealthy organization with lofty cultural ideals. Launched in 1982, the Trust was put in place to assure late tycoon J. Paul Getty's vision of bringing art to the people and spreading knowledge. Despite some growing pains (and what billionaire family doesn't have a little scandal now and then?) the Getty, predominantly associated with their two local museums, has remained a stalwart figure in the local and international art scene. But the Getty isn't impervious to the fickle fate of finances, and last December, the Trust revealed that their endowment monies had shrunk by 25%.
Now the Trust "is slashing its operating budget nearly 25% for the coming fiscal year, an emergency response to investment losses that have totaled $1.5 billion since July and nearly $2 billion since mid-2007," the LA Times is reporting.
Getty Trust President James Wood has plans to keep the empire from crumbling, but that means curbing spending on staffing, exhibits, and new acquisitions. But the cuts must come soon, as Wood says "the financial stability of the Getty, the world's richest arts institution, could 'fall off a huge cliff' if it delayed drastic cuts and hard times continued." And "cliff-falling" jokes are no laughing matter when your flagship campus sits atop a massive hill.
The LA Times explains the planned spending cuts:
The reductions at the Getty should focus on operations that can easily expand again, Wood said Friday. Cuts may well be in store for temporary exhibitions, which have totaled more than 20 a year. The Getty may also defer buying new works for its collections of ancient art, European art from before the 20th century, illuminated manuscripts and photography.Firm decisions specifying cuts will be made by the end of spring, but Wood emphasizes that free admission is something the Getty will not stop offering. As recently as last fall, however, the Getty implemented a slash in hours of business and a hike in parking--the only fee they currently charge.
Staffing seems destined to be the arena in which the reductions will be most widely felt. Wood insists that the Getty will not curb their focus on education and research in order to throw their attention solely on museum endeavors, but since their "biggest expense by far is the combination of salaries and benefits, which totaled $124.6 million in 2006-07, according to its most recent available federal tax return," it seems likely the ax will fall most swiftly on the heads of their employees. One anonymous staffer has been venting on a blog for the past few weeks created to track the economic woes of their employer.
Currently the Getty employees 1,395 full-time and 101 part-time workers, including the aforementioned blogger, who conducted a poll and found that "102 people (77%) said staff morale is poor" at the Getty. And with good reason--it will be a long, hard fall from atop that magnificent cliff.
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They could also charge for the guest exhibits like a $1 flat to see them all or maybe $1 per exhibit.
Hey, even a TIP jar or something. I was sort of amazed that everything was free there (admission that is).
I'm guessing here, but I believe the stipulation in Getty's will was it to be free?
This is also true.
Yeah, admission charges aren't going to happen. Getty was very adamant about making the facilities accessible.
From the website: "The J. Paul Getty Trust continues Mr. Getty's vision, supported by directions from his will, which calls for 'the diffusion of artistic and general knowledge.'" I am pretty sure, too, that one of the directions has to do with offering free admission. Parking, however...
I really disagree. The amount of money taken in would not off-set the positive feeling the public gets from visiting the Getty gratis -- that these treasures and this location, under the stewardship of the Getty Foundation, are offered and made available to the public as a philanthropic act. Compare this to, say, the Met in NY where the giant glass box of "donations" guilts every visitor into plunking down a few dollars. Museums ought to rely on membership fees and charitable donations for revenue from the visiting public rather than charging for admission, which seems rather gauche. In these troubled times especially, of course, not every institution has the deep pockets Getty has (even with their recent losses) to do this. More should consider it, though. I applaud the Getty for their commitment to providing free admission to the museum.
Signs of the times. Very distressing. Those year-to-date losses since last July are astonishingly huge. I wish there were a way to keep staff morale higher, but I'm also glad to see the leaders of this instituion taking decisive action that (from the outside) seems reasoned and logical. MOCA could take a lesson.
Was some of their money invested with Madoff or is this part of the whole stock market slide?
The Getty doesn't have a membership department, or a development department. Yes, I know they have an enormous payroll, but I think some type of membership and development program would be prudent.
Also, that survey? With 1400 full time, and 100 part time employees, it's not hard to find 100 people to anonymously comment that staff morale is low.
Agree with both of your points!
The Getty has been through a situation like this before - they took a huge, multi-billion dollar hit during the dotcom downturn and has been trying to diversify and be more secure since, but given the size of that endowment, and the general state of investment markets, no matter how much less risky their position today is, their endowment was bound to take another beating.
just raise parking and food prices. not noticeable at all...
I earned the Getty Oil Company shareholders Four Billion Bucks …
On the Reserve acquisition; the way they treat me … it really sucks!
As the Getty inheritors bask in glee;
All I asked for was that they look after me.
Four billion dollars they earned on Reserve …
My fee I surely deserve.
It turns out J.P. Getty may have been a Nazi;
His family even goes back to Germany ….
With Hitler, GÖring & Goebbels he did stand;
While trying to undermine the American land!
For paintings & artifacts he did receive;
With his oil he was able to deceive?
Hoover & the FBI & Roosevelt they knew …
That J.P. Getty & espionage he drew!
Many a young lad and Jew did die
As planes dropped bombs from the sky.
For years while Getty sat in Berlin
He may have committed many a sin.
The ashes and smoke from the chimneys it rose
While old man Getty sat cozy … he chose.
With artwork held tightly under his arm
Still dripping in blood … as the real owner met harm.
Into the ovens & on meat-hooks, bullets between the eyes …
Listen very carefully you can still hear their cries!
While the Gettys sit in England; at their estate at Wormsley;
And Gordon sings in San Francisco …
With his 727 in tow;
The Getty museum sits atop Malibu;
While the corpses of World War 2 scream … “J.P. Getty … We know you!”
JPGETTY.com
GETTY WAR CRIMES LAWSUIT GOES FORWARD IN WASHINGTON.
J. PAUL GETTY; FBI FILE 100.1202, JUNE 26, 1940; ESPIONAGE.
Grant MacDonald, DBA, LL.D. is filing a $22 billion lawsuit in Washington, D.C. against the Getty Oil Company benefactors; based on J. Paul Getty's support for Hitler in WWII. 43,000 people were killed in UK by the Nazis while J. Paul Getty was in Berlin shipping oil to Hitler. Jean Paul Getty’s mother; Catherine Risher was German. Dec. 20, 1940 … the New York Daily News wrote about Getty’s involvement with espionage at the Pierre Hotel in New York. 2003 documents declassified by UK Warfare Ministry reveal that Oct. 1941 the pro-Nazi Jean Paul Getty employed and lodged Nazis at his Pierre Hotel in New York City; Nazis who were involved in spying on and sabotaging Allied Forces’ war production plants. FBI reported that Getty was still shipping oil to Hitler; June, 1941 … nine months after London was being bombed … five months before Pearl Harbor; Dec. 7, 1941. Death - does not rule out - one going forward with civil forfeiture proceedings. Explained further; "Getty benefactors - at the end of the day - cannot sit on the spoils of Jean Paul Getty’s crimes." Pertaining to laws, the government or a private party can take action against property without going after the initial owner. United States legislation … provides that the death of a defendant charged with a criminal offence shall not be the basis for abating or otherwise invalidating either a verdict returned or the underlying indictment. To think; that anyone might be so insane to assume that because the USA didn’t declare war in World War II until Pearl Harbor was attacked … that this allowed Getty to join Hitler from 1938 to 1941 … during Hitler’s violent slaughter through Poland; Czechoslovakia & Norway when Getty supported Hitler & the Nazis with oil. Canada was at war in 1939 and MacDonald’s father fought at the front with the Canadian forces from ages 18 to 22 … fighting at Normandy on D-Day to outside Berlin. Many Canadians flew with the RAF against the German Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain. The Law of Treason in United States; “Article Three,” defines treason as levying war against the United States or "in adhering to their Enemies," knowingly adhered to an enemy of the United States, namely, Nazi Germany and give Nazi Germany aid and comfort ... with intent to betray the United States.
GRANT MACDONALD FOR WORLD WAR II VETERANS AND VICTIMS
- v. -
J. PAUL GETTY TRUST, J. PAUL GETTY MUSEUM, GORDON GETTY, ANN GETTY, RONALD GETTY, SIR J. PAUL GETTY JR. ESTATE, MARK GETTY, GETTY IMAGES INC,
ANNE GETTY EARHART, CLAIRE GETTY PERRY, CAROLINE GETTY, PAUL PELOSI, UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI, ISOLEP ENTERPRISES,
SAN FRANCISCO MAYOR GAVIN NEWSOM, BILL A. NEWSOM, PLUMPJACK MANAGEMENT GROUP, FORWARD FUNDS AND REFLOW.
DEFENDANTS.
INDICTMENT
All assets based on judgment would go to Allied Forces Veterans’ foundations.
It is a common misconception that Mr. Getty insisted that admission to the Getty be free, but that's not the case. The Getty's indenture does allow for an admission fee to help defray the cost of the operation. However, as Jim Wood, our president and CEO, stated in the Los Angeles Times article referenced here, maintaining free admission is an important priority for the Getty to ensure cost is not a barrier to welcoming visitors to our two sites.
- Getty Communications