Kids Can Come, Too

Planning to leave your kids at home when you visit the Getty Center? Think again. The folks on the hill are making their new home so family-friendly that visitors who don’t have a child in tow may fear they are missing something important--especially at the museum, the primary public attraction.

The targeting of families is a continuation of the old Malibu museum’s effort to broaden the Getty’s audience, says Diane Brigham, head of the museum’s education department: “After listening to people in the community and in focus groups, we realized that with all the demands on families, the first thing we had to do was to get on their radar screens. That requires doing something interesting that meets their needs.”

The fun will begin with a ride on the sleek white tram designed to transport people from the parking structure to the buildings. Arriving at the museum’s courtyard, children will find boulders to climb and a pool with steppingstones.

Inside the museum, visitors can pick up an audio guide about the art collection, with a “family track” in English and Spanish. “It’s really interactive and participatory,” Brigham says. “You might be asked to guess what your family members’ favorite objects are or to make up a story about what might happen next in a painting.”

Among other gallery activities, portable games will be available. For example, “Perplexing Paintings” helps unravel the mysteries of “St. Catherine of Alexandria and Twelve Scenes From Her Life,” a highly detailed medieval painting by Donato and Gregorio D’Arezzo.

“The idea of these early Christian paintings was to tell a story to the congregation,” Brigham says. “People back in the 1300s would have known the story, but most of us don’t. We may not even understand that the painting is telling a story in sequence. So we have a game with magnetized cards that can be moved around to tell the story while you look at the painting and answer a series of questions.”

Just outside the museum, a special family room is staffed with child-oriented assistants and equipped with comfy cushions, books and CD-ROMs about art. A section of the room, called “Picture Yourself,” invites kids to don dress-up clothes, pose with props and have a hands-on educational encounter with portraiture.

While the family room is the exclusive domain of kids and their parents or guardians, the museum offers additional educational aids for all visitors. Information rooms have timelines that provide a historical context for artworks in adjacent galleries, graphic panels identifying artistic styles and periods, and interactive computer programs. Samples of wood, gold leaf and other materials used in the artworks also are available, along with explanations of techniques, including marquetry and bronze casting.

In addition to these attractions, special events are planned. There will be storytelling on weekends and a series of ethnically themed family festivals on Sundays.

And, of course, there’s the museum bookstore. Among 30 new titles published by the Getty in anticipation of the opening are two children’s books: “A is for Artist: A Getty Museum Alphabet,” illustrated with paintings from the museum’s collection, and “Going to the Getty,” a witty tour of the Getty Center by J.otto Seibold and Vivian Walsh, creators of the popular children’s book character Mr. Lunch.

With the public clamoring to visit the Getty Center, these enticements for children may seem unnecessary but they are part of a well-considered strategy. “We want to build a long-term relationship with the Los Angeles area,” says Deborah Gribbon, the museum’s associate director and chief curator. “If we start with people when they are young, they will be longtime museum visitors.”

What’s more, she says, “We have learned that services directed to children are wonderful aids and guides to adults who come to the museum not really knowing about art, or at least about our collections. And they shouldn’t have to worry about that. It’s not the price of admission here.”