Thank you for your ongoing coverage of Pacific Standard Time: Art in LA 1945–1980. It has been the Getty’s tremendous privilege and pleasure to work with so many dedicated arts professionals throughout Southern California to achieve this unprecedented collaboration. I do, however, want to correct some errors and inconsistencies in the information conveyed through the recently published graphs in X-TRA (spring 2012, Volume 14, No. 3) regarding Getty Foundation funding for Pacific Standard Time.
First, I’d like to clarify the difference between the Getty Foundation and the Getty Trust, which are conflated in the graphs. The J. Paul Getty Trust is the parent organization that encompasses and oversees all four of the Getty programs: the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Getty Research Institute, the Getty Conservation Institute, and the Getty Foundation (which is the grant- making program). The Getty Trust is a private operating foundation. Unlike a private foundation or a public charity, a private operating foundation operates its own programs and devotes most of its earnings and assets directly to the conduct of its charitable programs.
There also seems to be confusion about the value of the Getty’s assets. The Getty Trust’s total net assets for FY 2010 were $7.1 billion, which includes not only the Trust endowment, but also buildings, museum and library collections, equipment, vehicles, and other property. Within those assets is the Trust endowment, which was $4.8 billion at the end of fiscal year 2010. There are no separate assets for the Foundation, only one overall Trust budget. The entire Getty annual operating budget is based on 5% of the three-year average of the endowment, and it funds the operations and programs of the Museum, Research Institute, Conservation Institute and Foundation, as well as the centralized services provided by the Trust. Further financial information for FY 2010 may be found on the Getty Trust’s 990 tax forms and audited financial statements available online (www.getty.edu/about/ governance/finance.html).
All Pacific Standard Time grants were awarded by the Foundation. Total grant funding for the initiative as of the end of 2011 was $11,103,000. Grants were given over a ten-year period for support of documentary archives, research, exhibitions, publications and programs related to the art of Los Angeles in the post-war decades. A number of organizations received multiple grants within these categories over the years from 2002 through 2011, but that is not consistently reflected in X-TRA’s graphs. A full list of Pacific Standard Time grants is available online (www.getty.edu/foundation/funding/access/current/ pst_fact_sheet_exhibitions.html).
I’d also like to correct the total Foundation grants made in FY 2011. The Getty Foundation made $11,632,601 in grants in all funding categories during that fiscal year, and $4,263,887 during the partial period cited in the graph. A complete list of the Getty Foundation’s grants made in all funding categories is available online (www.getty.edu/foundation/pdfs/ grants_awarded_1011.pdf).
No grant funds were used for the event in October 2011 that brought together many representatives of the partner institutions, arts community, and civic leaders to launch and announce the opening of Pacific Standard Time. In addition to support from the Trust, that evening was made possible by the great generosity of Tiffany & Co. as well as individual donors.
I appreciate this opportunity to offer some clarifications.
Sincerely,
Ron Hartwig
Vice President, Communications, J. Paul Getty Trust
Editors’ Note
An updated version of Rosten Woo’s editorial, which corrects the conflation of the Getty Trust and the Getty Foundation, can be viewed on our website (www.x-traonline.org).