Latest news with #GettyVilla
CBS News
5 days ago
- General
- CBS News
Getty Villa Museum in Pacific Palisades prepares to reopen months after Palisades Fire forced its temporary closure
At the Getty Villa Museum in the Pacific Palisades, crews have been preparing for its reopening months after the Palisades Fire forced the property to temporarily close. Since the fire, staff have removed more than 1,300 damaged trees, deep cleaned indoor and outdoor spaces, replaced air and water filters and flushed its water system. Fortunately, none of the buildings were damaged, but the community was still significantly affected. "It is with the utmost gratitude and appreciation for Getty staff, first responders, and other agencies that we can announce the reopening of the Villa to the public," said Katherine Fleming, president and CEO of the J. Paul Getty Trust. "Without their tireless efforts, we would not be in the position we are in today, where we can welcome back visitors and the surrounding community to enjoy the Villa grounds and collection." The museum will reopen to the public on June 27, featuring a new exhibition. Claire Lyons, one of the curators of antiquities, is behind the new exhibit that's being shown for the first time anywhere outside of Europe. "The focus of it is on the Mycenaean culture, the prehistoric culture of Greece, the first civilization of ancient Greece," Lyons said. "The Kingdom of Pylos: Warrior-Princes of Ancient Greece" will be on display through Jan. 12, 2026. It will showcase over 230 artifacts and works of art from Messenia. "We are incredibly grateful for the support received from the Museum community and beyond as we work towards reopening the Getty Villa Museum," said Timothy Potts, Maria Hummer-Tuttle and Robert Tuttle, Director of the Getty Museum. "We look forward to welcoming visitors back to explore our newest exhibition, The Kingdom of Pylos, and much more of our treasured antiquities collection this summer." This exhibit and the rest of the museum are free to visitors, with only a $25 charge for parking. For generations, school field trips have been a big part of the museum's mission to make art accessible to all. "We will issue about 500 tickets every day and we'll only be open Friday through Monday," said Desiree Zenowich, interim VP of Communications. The museum wants to do a slow rollout since access to the Pacific Coast Highway has recently reopened to the public. The museum will not be accessible by Sunset Boulevard, so officials instruct guests to use PCH only. Zenowich said the amphitheater is also looking forward to hosting a stage production in the fall. "It will be Oedipus the King, Mamba, which is a mash-up of Oedipus the King with music by Elvis Presley," she said. While civilizations may rise and fall, it takes dedication to preserve their legacy. "The doors were shut and sealed with tape to prevent any ash or anything else from coming in," Zenowich said.
USA Today
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
The deadly Palisades Fire nearly destroyed landmark Getty Villa. Now it's about to reopen.
The deadly Palisades Fire nearly destroyed landmark Getty Villa. Now it's about to reopen. Show Caption Hide Caption 82-year-old joyfully reunites with beloved cat lost in Palisades Fire After being separated from her cat during the Palisades Fire in Los Angeles, Katherine was overjoyed when Aggie was found alive two months later. LOS ANGELES – Once in the crosshairs of the deadly Palisades Fire, the famed Getty Villa Museum in the tony coastal hills of Los Angeles has a reopening date. The villa has been closed since Jan. 7, when the fast-moving Palisades Fire came much too close for comfort. The blaze destroyed thousands of structures in the area, killed 12 people and went on to burn for nearly a month, but amazingly, the villa was spared. 'It is with the utmost gratitude and appreciation for Getty staff, first responders, and other agencies that we can announce the reopening of the Villa to the public,' Katherine Fleming, president and CEO of the J. Paul Getty Trust, said in a May 19 announcement. The villa is set to reopen on Friday, June 27. It will have a limited schedule − Friday through Monday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. − to limit traffic on the fire-battered Pacific Coast Highway – the only open route to the museum. Reservations for the museum are limited to 500 per day and parking will cost $25. How close did the Palisades Fire come to the Getty Villa Aerial footage and images shared on social media the morning of Jan. 7 showed smoke approaching the Getty Villa as the fire moved through the area. Some trees and vegetation on the villa site burned, according to the museum. Fleming said at the time that additional fire prevention measures, including on-site water storage and irrigation, were immediately deployed throughout the grounds. Museum galleries and library archives were sealed off from the smoke by "state-of-the-art air-handling systems," and double-walled construction also provided "significant protection" for the collections, according to Fleming. The museum said Tuesday that it has undergone an extensive cleanup and removed more than 1,300 fire-damaged trees. "The site may look different to visitors, with less vegetation and some burn damage to the outer grounds," the announcement read. What is the Getty Villa? The Getty Villa is an educational center and art museum located the coastal Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles. Opened in 1974 by billionaire oilman J. Paul Getty, the museum honors the arts and cultures of various classic civilizations from the ancient Greeks to the Romans. The museum will reopen with the exhibition "The Kingdom of Pylos: Warrior-Princes of Ancient Greece" on view through January 2026. The exhibition will showcase over 230 works of art and artifacts from Messenia, an epicenter of the Mycenaean civilization that flourished in Late Bronze Age Greece – according to the announcement. It is the first major display in North America focused on Mycenaeans, the museum said. The exhibition on view in January, "Ancient Thrace and the Classical World: Treasures from Bulgaria, Romania, and Greece," closed permanently due to the fire. A video tour of the exhibition was posted by the museum in April. Contributing: Thao Nguyen, Anthony Robledo – USA TODAY
Time Out
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
The Getty Villa is finally reopening—here's how you can visit
There's good news this afternoon for art- and antiquities-loving Angelenos. The Getty Villa has announced a reopening date: Friday, June 27. The beloved museum, sister institution to Brentwood's Getty Center, has been closed since January 7, when the destructive Palisades Fire broke out. Even though the Villa shut its doors to the public, some staff members stayed on-site to protect the artwork and grounds from the encroaching blaze—and thanks to the brave work of the Los Angeles Fire Department, volunteers and some truly impressive security measures, the building and collections were unharmed. The Getty says it has worked with its staff and other agencies to ensure the grounds are safe for the public to return to. The extensive cleanup efforts included deep cleaning indoor and outdoor spaces, replacing air and water filters, flushing the water system and removing more than 1,300 trees that had been damaged by the surrounding fires. But even though visitors might notice less vegetation and some burn damage around the grounds, the heart of the Getty Villa remains intact. For the time being, the museum will be open with limited hours: Fridays though Mondays from 10am to 5pm. As always, you'll need to book a timed ticket to visit—walk-ins aren't accepted. And only 500 guests will be admitted per day. You can reserve a ticket here (time slots are available every half-hour until 3pm). At the time of writing, reservations have only been released for the first week of reopening, from June 27 to 30. And while admission is still free, parking is $25. Now, how do you get there? Though the stretch of the Pacific Coast Highway by the Getty Villa remains closed right now, the state has promised that it'll reopen by the end of May. The museum notes that you'll have to enter via PCH, and don't be surprised if you run into some traffic—so plan accordingly. In addition to over 1,000 artifacts on display, visitors will be able to see a brand-new exhibition when they visit: 'The Kingdom of Pylos: Warrior-Princes of Ancient Greece' opens June 27 and is the first major museum show in North America focused on Greece's Mycenaean civilization. Weapons, wall paintings, clay tablets and carved sealstones tell the story of Messenia and its Griffin Warrior tomb. And later this summer, the Villa will resume its outdoor theater series held in its amphitheater built in the Greek and Roman styles. In September, the Troubadour Theater Company will combine Greek tragedy with rock & roll in Oedipus the King, Mama!
CBS News
19-05-2025
- CBS News
Getty Villa Museum to reopen next month after Palisades Fire closure
The Getty Villa Museum is set to reopen to the public on June 27 after a roughly four-month closure following the Palisades Fire. Museum officials said when the wildfire broke out on Jan. 7, 17 Getty staff members volunteered to stay on-site, to protect the museum from flames. Staff sealed the galleries and put out small fires in the following days. "The Villa was spared through the valiant efforts of the LAFD firefighters in the surrounding neighborhoods and targeted water drops," Getty representatives said. Cleanup and deep cleaning of indoor and outdoor spaces were done while the museum was closed, which included flushing the water system, replacing all air and water filters, and removing more than 1,300 fire-damaged trees. "The site may look different to visitors, with less vegetation and some burn damage to the outer grounds," Getty representatives said. The Villa will be open on a limited schedule of Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. to limit the amount of traffic on Pacific Coast Highway. The Villa is currently not accessible by way of Sunset Blvd. Reservations will be limited to 500 visitors daily, and free timed-entry reservations are available to book online. Parking is $25. The museum's next exhibition, The Kingdom of Pylos: Warrior-Princes of Ancient Greece, will be on view from June 27 through January 12, 2026.
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Letters to the Editor: Relocating priceless Getty collections to downtown would not necessarily ensure their safety
To the editor: Before encouraging the Getty Center and Getty Villa to move holdings to the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration in downtown Los Angeles, it would be wise to remember the fire that hit the Central Library in 1986 ("Fire could have destroyed the Getty's irreplaceable art. Should the museum move?" March 13). Per the library website, "400,000 volumes — 20% of the library's holdings — were destroyed, with significant water and smoke damage done to the surviving works.' No one knows how the fire started, but the result was closure of the library for seven years. It will take a lot of study to determine just how fire-safe a structure built in 1960 actually is or can be made to be. As art critic Christopher Knight writes, the possibility of moving the Getty collection, and, in my opinion, the collection at the Skirball Cultural Center that abuts the same wildfire-prone area, should be considered, but that consideration shouldn't turn on the availability of a particular building. Stephanie Scher, Pasadena .. To the editor: I take exception to Knight's view on several counts. First, there is no safer place to house these collections than where they are sitting today. To rebuild these locations would be prohibitive, even for the Getty Trust. Second, the two locations themselves are works of art and, in my opinion, are irreplaceable. Finally, the county hall site could be repurposed into homeless and low-income housing for a fraction of the cost of a new museum and be a better memorial to the late mayor and county supervisor James Hahn. Kevin Minihan, Westchester .. To the editor: I like Knight's idea to relocate the Getty collection downtown in the Hahn building next to Grand Park. That structure is steps away from the Civic Center Metro stop, which I already use when I go to the Music Center. Don Shirley, Sherman Oaks .. To the editor: The commentary on whether the Getty's buildings should move was a waste of Knight's long years of experience and practiced eye for art, neither of which were needed for that off-the-wall piece of blue-sky speculation. Patrick Frank, Venice .. To the editor: Both museums have incredible abilities to survive the fires that scarred our city. The vision of the villa to be above the ocean, as was the original villa near Pompeii, would be totally ruined. Instead, this critic should be lauding the beacons both museums provide. One stands bravely for the reestablishment of a community around it. The other encourages all of L.A. that such a resource exists. Elaine Sarnoff, Manhattan Beach .. To the editor: Let's move Los Angeles. Instead of having to deal with wildfires, earthquakes and urban unrest, moving our fair city to a spot where nothing much happens — Inyo County comes to mind — might achieve the goal of erasing every last bit of uncertainty in life and allowing us to never again have to worry that Thracian artifacts are endangered. Jeff Schultz, Los Angeles This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
