Learn about historic and contemporary materials and techniques from practicing artists in these free drop-in programs.

Enjoy presentations of historical art-making techniques related to the Museum's collection and exhibitions offered throughout the year. Meet artists, ask questions, and get close to the action as you learn about materials and techniques seen in works of art on display at the Getty Center and the Getty Villa. Free; drop-in.

Next in the series
Visions of Gold, the Fine Art of Gilding
Sundays, February 19, March 4 and 18,
April 1 and 15, May 6, 20, and 27, 2012
1:00–3:00 p.m.
Getty Center, Museum Studios

Artist Sylvana Barrett demonstrates the fine art of gold gilding used to create the lavish embellishments found in European manuscripts and panel paintings of the Gothic era. Complements the exhibition Gothic Grandeur: Manuscript Illumination, 1200–1350.

Next in the series
Ancient Music
Saturday, March 10 and 31, May 5 and 26, 2012;
Sunday, March 11, April 1, May 6 and 27, 2012;
11:00 a.m.–noon
3:00–4:00 p.m.
Getty Villa, Education Studio

Musicians and instruments were popular subjects for ancient Greek artists. Were their depictions drawn from the imagination or do they reflect how music was actually played in antiquity? Find out by joining Musicántica in this live demonstration of musical instruments depicted in works of art in the Museum's collection. Explore the the ways in which the aulos (reed flute), krotalas (castanets), and kithara (framed harp) might have been played and learn about the kinds of sound they made. Discover what materials were used to create these instruments, and how they're connected to modern Mediterranean folk instruments.

The Getty Artists Program extends the education department's existing artist-based programs to include individual artist projects or residencies. Invitations are extended to artists who have shown a strong interest in education. One artist is selected each year and given the freedom to select an audience to work with, and to develop focus and format of their own project.

One goal of the program is to provide invited artists with the opportunity to undertake innovative projects in collaboration with the Museum's staff. The projects provide Museum staff and visitors with new insights and perspectives into the Museum's collections and exhibitions. Thus, our existing audiences have new opportunities for unique learning experiences, and the program has the potential to bring in new audiences. Learn more about this program.

Next in the series
Digital Scavenger hunt
John Divola, the Getty Artists Program invitee for 2012, works primarily with photography and digital imaging. While he has approached diverse subjects ranging from abandoned houses in his Zuma Series to dogs in Dogs Chasing My Car in the Desert, Divola remains interested in the relationships between the natural and artificial and the abstract and specific.

For his project, Divola devised a digital scavenger hunt in which participants use cameras to capture subjects drawn from the Getty Center site and J. Paul Getty Museum's collections. Engaging multiple audiences—from students at Hooper Avenue Elementary to college students at Santa Monica College, East Los Angeles College, College of the Canyons, and Pierce College—this playful and open–ended project provides a unique entrée to the museum experience as well as the practice of photography. Divola remarks: "As photographers we delight in the medium because it generally pulls us out into the world, both literally and figuratively, in a heightened state of awareness. This project presents a straightforward invitation to that process."

The resulting images are assembled to create large–scale collective prints that encourage looking and express multiple, individual engagements. The project ultimately calls into question ideas of authorship and allows a large group of individuals to exhibit at the Museum—and is thus playfully subversive.

Learn more about John Divola.

Point of View: Artist Talks feature Los Angeles-based artists and related specialists in an informal and intimate gallery-talk program, offering a unique perspective on the Getty collection and temporary exhibitions. Free; offered on selected Saturday afternoons.

Recently in the series
Fred Fisher on Representations of Los Angeles
March 10, 2012
Getty Center, Museum Galleries

Los Angeles–based architect Fred Fisher is known for his creative spaces. He and his firm, Fisher Partners, designed the Walter and Leonore Annenberg Center for Information Science and Technology at the California Institute of Technology as well as the Robert F. Erburu Gallery at the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, among others. Fisher presents a gallery talk exploring representations of Los Angeles. Complements the exhibition In Focus: Los Angeles, 1945–1980.

See upcoming and past events and learn more about Point of View: Artist Talks.