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Response From the Getty Trust

The article, “Getty Trims Programs,” (Oct. 5) failed to convey the actual context for program changes at the J. Paul Getty Trust, the foundation which operates the Getty Center, the J. Paul Getty Museum and programs devoted to education, conservation, research, and grant-making in the visual arts and humanities. All the Trust’s programs are united at the Getty Center campus.

Following the opening of the Getty Center, and under new leadership, the Trust has undertaken a careful process of internal review and reshaping aimed at focusing and clarifying our mission and programs in order to strengthen the full range of our activities and increase their impact. The Getty is a young institution, and this process is a healthy part of ongoing assessment and renewal. It is not driven by a need to reduce costs. The article inaccurately refers to the Getty Center’s annual operating budget as $200 million, when this is in fact the operating budget for the entire Getty Trust, including all our programs and facilities.

Indeed, the Getty Trust continues to be in excellent financial condition. While the Trust’s over $4 billion endowment has certainly been affected on paper by the recent volatility in the financial markets, we plan expenditures very conservatively and on a long-term basis precisely to avoid the impact of such market fluctuations. There is absolutely no connection between the recent market changes and the internal reorganization. We started the reorganization process when the markets and our endowment were at an all-time high.

As a consequence of this review process, we have decided to close the Getty Information Institute over the course of the next year. We expect some elements of the program will be merged into other Getty programs, some elements will be discontinued, and other activities may find support outside the Getty. There will be a small staff reduction for that particular program area, but other areas may, in fact, expand over time. Our commitment to education goes across all the Getty programs, and thus we are looking at ways of reshaping the Getty Education Institute.

The article’s overall impression that we are “sharply scaling back” is simply not true.

STEPHEN D. ROUNTREE

Executive Vice President and COO

The J. Paul Getty Trust