Getty Foundation

The Getty Grant Program was formally established in 1984 to serve the visual arts and related humanities by providing funding for work of exceptional merit for which resources were otherwise limited. It was established by the J. Paul Getty Trust, an international cultural and philanthropic organization serving both general audiences and specialized professionals. The Trust is a not-for-profit institution, educational in purpose and character, that focuses on the visual arts in all of their dimensions. As of 2009 the Trust supports and oversees four programs: the J. Paul Getty Museum; the Getty Conservation Institute; the Getty Research Institute; and the Getty Foundation, which continues the work begun by the Getty Grant Program. In 2005 the name of the Getty Grant Program was changed to the Getty Foundation. The Foundation supports projects, internationally, that promote research in the history of art and the humanities, the understanding of art, and conservation.

The professional staff of the Trust design programs, encourage and assess proposals, and seek to discover opportunities of exceptional promise that can advance a field or strengthen an institution. Applications are evaluated by the professional staff, calling on outside expertise when required. The staff recommends to the President grants for funding under Trustee-approved appropriations. [From report "The J. Paul Getty Trust Grant Program" presented to the Trustees at April 27, 1980 Board meeting.] Grants in excess of $50,000 must be approved by the Trust Grant Committee.

Administrative History

The Getty Grant Program was formally established in 1984 (announced October 11) to serve the visual arts and related humanities by providing funding for work of exceptional merit for which resources were otherwise limited. It supports projects, internationally, that promote research in the history of art and the humanities, the understanding of art, and conservation. In early 1985 the Grant Program had the following grant categories: library and archival projects at independent centers for advanced research in the history of art; scholarly cataloging of art museum collections; publications; conservation; museum programs to interpret permanent collections; education in the arts; national and international service organizations. In 1986 the Getty brought "in-house" its postdoctoral fellowship program, which had been administered by the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation.

The professional staff of the Trust design programs, encourage and assess proposals, and seek to discover opportunities of exceptional promise that can advance a field or strengthen an institution. Applications are evaluated by the professional staff, calling on outside expertise when required. The staff recommends to the President grants for funding under Trustee-approved appropriations. [From report "The J. Paul Getty Trust Grant Program" presented to the Trustees at April 27, 1980 Board meeting.] Grants in excess of $50,000 must be approved by the Trust Grant Committee.

Nearly five hundred grants (almost one-third of the total number of grants awarded by the program) have been in the area of conservation, with the intention of supporting projects that strengthen conservation practices as well as protect the world's artistic and architectural heritage. The grants support both museums and historic buildings in projects that emphasize careful planning and research, in projects that provide training opportunities, and in projects that will act as models of conservation practice for their region or discipline. Documentation of projects is an important aspect of each grant.

In the area of museum conservation, the Getty Grant Program awards two types of grants: survey and treatment grants. Survey grants are designed to help museums analyze and assess the conservation requirements of their collections. Such grants are intended for museums with limited staff and resources; they allow the institutions to hire outside consultants to examine collections and develop recommendations and strategies for actual treatment. Treatment grants support the conservation of individual works of art, or groups of art. These grants are intended for institutions with limited conservation staff and resources that have undertaken a survey of their collections, and have thus identified priorities for treatment. Treatment grants are generally made for projects that can demonstrate significant new advances in conservation methodologies and documentation. Treatment grants are made in matching form.

In April 1988, the Grant Program announced a new category of support for architectural conservation. These grants support both planning and implementation, although the emphasis is on planning. Planning includes detailed research on the history and past conservation of a building, scientific analysis, and documentation in the form of drawings and photographs. Once an organization completes its planning and demonstrates that an exemplary conservation project exists, it is encouraged to apply at the project implementation level. Implementation grants provide funds for the conservation work necessary to stabilize and secure a building. These are also matching grants, and are intended to serve as regional models, have a lasting impact on the building's preservation, advance a technical practice for understanding particular materials, and provide training opportunities for young conservators. [Source: "The Getty Grant Program" by Deborah Marrow, Board of Trustees Report, November 7-8, 1996, pp. 24-27]

In January 2005 the name of the Getty Grant Program was changed to the Getty Foundation.