Getty Conservation Institute.

The Getty Conservation Institute (GCI) was launched in 1985 with the appointment of Luis Monreal as its first director. Monreal was succeeded by Miguel Corzo, who served as director from 1990 to 1998. Tim Whalen, the current director, was appointed in 1998. Since its inception, the GCI has engaged in a program of scientific research, educational activities, documentation, and the dissemination of information through publications, conferences, workshops, and public programs that include research opportunities for professionals and public lectures. In addition, the GCI has conducted international field projects in Asia, Africa, North and South America, and Europe. The GCI's endeavors are designed to serve the needs of the conservation profession by undertaking work that examines broad practical or theoretical questions of significance to the conservation field. The GCI develops and refines tools for conservation and shares its expertise with institutions and organizations worldwide so that its efforts have the greatest possible benefit to the practice of conservation. The GCI is a program overseen by the J. Paul Getty Trust, a not-for-profit educational organization.

From the description of Training manuals, 1985-2001. (Getty Research Institute). WorldCat record id: 755033322

Administrative History and Project Background

The Getty Conservation Institute (GCI), a part of the J. Paul Getty Trust, was initially planned in 1982 and began full operation in 1985. Since its inception, the GCI has engaged in a program of scientific research, educational activities, documentation, and the dissemination of information through publications, conferences, workshops, and public programs that include research opportunities for professionals and public lectures. In addition, the Institute has conducted international field projects in Asia, Africa, North and South America, and Europe. The GCI's endeavors are designed to serve the needs of the conservation profession by undertaking work that tackles broad practical or theoretical questions of significance to the conservation field. The Institute develops and refines tools for conservation and shares its expertise with institutions and organizations worldwide so that its efforts have the greatest possible benefit to the practice of conservation.

The Getty Conservation Institute's first field project focused on the 3,200-year-old tomb of Queen Nefertari in the Valley of the Queens, near Luxor, Egypt. Beginning in 1986, in collaboration with the Egyptian Antiquities Organization (EAO), a multidisciplinary, international group of experts conducted an intensive six-year campaign, which included condition assessment, analysis, emergency treatment, and conservation of the extraordinary wall paintings in the tomb. The project included training conservators from Egypt and other countries.

One of the main objectives of the conservation effort was to maintain the site's historical integrity, therefore treatment of the wall paintings was limited to consolidation and cleaning. The diagnostic methodology developed during the project was one that can be applied to wall paintings at other sites.

The GCI and the J. Paul Getty Museum presented a joint exhibition on the project, which opened to the public on November 12, 1992. This was the first exhibition to chronicle on the GCI's internal conservation campaigns and also the first exhibit on site conservation to be shown at the Getty museum. It also marked the first time the Museum and the GCI collaborated on a Museum show. The purpose of the exhibition was to increase public awareness on in situ conservation and its importance in the preservation of cultural property worldwide.

From the guide to the Nefertari Project logbooks, 1989-1992, (The Getty Research Institute Institutional Records and Archives 1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100 Los Angeles, California, 90049-1688 (310) 440-7390 archives@getty.edu)