The Getty Can Help Us See Ourselves

On Dec. 13, we officially dedicated the Getty Center to the people of Los Angeles. But what will this new cultural center mean to the city? Will the presence of the center make any difference? As stewards of the Getty Trust, it is our objective to make the Getty truly accessible to all the people of Los Angeles, both at the Getty Center and in their own neighborhoods.

Some of our recent media coverage has suggested that the Getty may change Los Angeles. But rather than change what is already a wonderful city, I would hope that the Getty can add significantly to the support for and participation in the arts and culture here, and help us recognize and appreciate who and what we already are.

Los Angeles is the most ethnically diverse and culturally rich metropolitan area in the world, but we generally do not celebrate, or even acknowledge, these qualities within ourselves. We tend to prefer our own separate communities--ethnic, social and economic--and remain isolated from one another. We fail to be a community because we fear rather than respect our differences. As a result, our citizens miss out on the richness of diversity, and we may fall far below our potential as a city.

To the rest of the world, Los Angeles is known for the transitory and disastrous, a place that is always changing and struggling. We are associated with earthquakes, fires, riots and celebrity trials. There is not a sense of what is lasting and permanent, positive and hopeful and promising.

How can the Getty help us see ourselves differently? How can we gain a greater appreciation for who we truly are? How can we build community?

The arts have the unique ability to present the beauty, the values, the traditions, the history of various cultures in an authentic and nonpolemic way. Through the arts, one culture can say to another, “This is our spirit, these are our icons; this is what we value, what we celebrate.” Education and culture are nonbiased international ambassadors, connecting groups that seem far apart; building bridges that cross geographic, ethnic and social boundaries; imparting a sense of hope and promise and possibility.

The Getty, blessed as it is with resources and expertise in the arts and humanities, can serve an ambassadorial role in our own city. It can be a crossroads for the people of L.A, as well as those from around the world. On Dec. 14, in the first of an ongoing series of family festivals, our plazas and courtyards were filled with local performers, many of them children, representing distinct cultures. Many languages were being spoken. Many people, complete strangers, were interacting. It was community at its best.

But if the Getty really does belong to the people of Los Angeles and is to be truly accessible to them, we must also move far beyond the gates of the center and permeate the city, taking our public programs, educational projects and cultural heritage initiatives into neighborhoods and community centers. We already have well-established programs in schools and branch libraries and on the Internet; we must expand and build on these.

It is hoped that the Getty Center--and its visibility from many parts of the city--will bring a new focus on the larger cultural life of Los Angeles. The Getty can serve as a catalyst, providing the impetus for other cultural organizations, community groups and educational institutions to open their doors wider.

Los Angeles is a city of opportunity, and if those of us who represent the arts and culture work together, we can wake people up to the cultural riches that abound here and to the rewards of living in a diverse city that is a true community. The Getty welcomes the opportunity to play an active role in that process.