Getty Foundation

06/19/2026

Earlier this month, the City of Wichita officially celebrated the dedication of McAfee Pool and the legacy of Charles F. McAfee, whose 1969 design created a vital space for a historically Black community. The city was awarded a Conserving Black Modernism grant in June 2022 to conserve the pool and today it survives as a symbol of community, access, and the lasting legacy of Black modernist architecture. Congratulations to Mr. McAfee, his family, and the community on this momentous occasion.

Learn more about how community rallied to save a community pool:

How Getty and a Kansas neighborhood rallied to save a community pool designed to welcome Black swimmers

06/19/2026

“The network of curators, institutions, and colleagues that we established because of the Paper Project is a source of continuous inspiration and learning.”

Sentiments like this, shared by a Paper Project participant, lie at the heart of the initiative. Alongside the tangible outcomes of more than 100 projects ranging from training fellowships to exhibitions and workshops, one of its most significant achievements has been creating a vast network of professionals who are deeply committed to the graphic arts.

We hope that everyone whose work has been touched by the Paper Project will continue to benefit from the community built and connections made with one another, and we thank you for being a part of it.

Learn more about the Paper Project: https://www.getty.edu/projects/paper-project/

Images:
1. Paper Project Manuscripts Object Study © 2022 J. Paul Getty Trust
2. The participants of the workshop “Touched/Retouched: Paper Across Time (1400–1800)” at the Bibliotheca Hertziana – Max Planck Institute for Art History. Photo: Enrico Fontolan
3. John Marciari leads a discussion on drawings by Tintoretto and his workshop at the British Museum during the traveling seminar of 2018 led by the Morgan Library, supported by the Getty Foundation through its initiative, The Paper Project. Photo: Jamie Gabbarelli
4. The “Beyond the Substrate: Hand Papermaking Seminar for Print CUrators” cohort in the Dieu Donné office. Left to right: Galina Mardilovich, Stephanie Straine, Lauren Rosenblum, Jun Nakamura, Ana Torok, Catherine Walworth, Angelica Becerra, James Wehn, Kelly Montana, Iris Colburn. Credit: Obed Obwege
5. Master Printer and Assistant Director Dewey Tafoya speaks to Paper Project participants about the process of creating his own featured screen print for Self Help Graphics & Art’s annual Día de los Mu***os celebration. Photo credit: Naoko Takahatake
6. View of the Study Room of the Kupferstich-Kabinett Dresden. © Kupferstich-Kabinett, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden. Photo: Andreas Diesend
7. Paper Project GRI Special Collections Technique Demonstration. © 2022 J. Paul Getty Trust
8. 2025 workshop participants. Courtesy of Tamarind Institute
9. Master Printer Case Hudson explains to Paper Project participants the process of applying a ground to a copper plate. Photo credit: Kelin Michael
10. Group discussion on Austrian and South German drawings among experts and participants during the workshop "Exploring the Potential of Smaller Collections" (May 5th - May 10th), Alte Galerie, Graz. Photo credit: Dr. Karin Leitner-Ruhe, Chief Curator of the Alte Galerie, Graz.
11. Participants in a traveling seminar focused on old master drawings in Italy visit the Opificio delle Pietre Dure in Florence and view rubbings from the Villa I Tatti, The Harvard Center for Italian Renaissance Studies. The seminar was hosted by the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno and funded by the Getty Foundation through the Paper Project initiative. Photo: J. Paul Getty Trust

06/18/2026

The creativity of curators of prints and drawings is endless. When Covid-era travel restrictions hit, Paper Project participants dug deep into their own collections and produced microsites that bring underrecognized artists and artworks to the fore.

From resurrecting an 1892 landmark exhibition on the history and technology of printing at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston to transcribing manuscript hymns into modern notation and sound recordings at Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library, these digital projects support new research and allow broader audiences to explore collections in depth.

For a full list of digital projects supported by the Paper Project, visit: https://www.getty.edu/projects/paper-project/grants-awarded/

Featured websites:

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Cooper Hewitt, Musée de l'Armée, National Portrait Gallery USA, Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library, MUŻA , Narodna galerija, Nationalmuseum, Royal Museums Greenwich, Buffalo AKG Art Museum

06/17/2026

Say hello to the 2026 class of Getty Marrow Undergraduate Interns! Last week and this week we welcomed 17 interns working in departments across the Getty Center and Villa with orientation activities and a tour of Getty’s most photogenic spots. We’re looking forward to an exciting 10 weeks!

06/17/2026

Paper Project participants worked on 14 exhibitions and 42 publications and digital projects—several of which received or were shortlisted for awards—over the course of the initiative, producing a wave of important new scholarship in the graphic arts on topics including:

- Previously unidentified subjects in an arsenic-laced portrait album at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery USA: https://www.getty.edu/news/silhouette-sleuthing-william-bache-arsenic-portrait-album-genealogy-history-smithsonian/
- An intimate look at artist Betye Saar’s travel sketchbooks at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum: https://www.getty.edu/news/women-who-wander-betye-saar-at-the-gardner-sketchbooks/
- Drawings from the National Gallery of Canada 's 100-year-old collection shown to the Canadian public for the first time in decades: https://www.getty.edu/news/paper-project-grant-gathered-leaves/
- The first-ever retrospective of work by cartoonist, political satirist, and illustrator Hinko Smrekar at the National Gallery of Slovenia (Narodna galerija): https://www.getty.edu/news/the-greatest-satirist-youve-never-heard-of/

See the full list of exhibitions, publications, and digital projects: https://www.getty.edu/projects/paper-project/

Images:
1. A museum specialist in full protective gear at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery helps with the digitization of the “Ledger book of William Bache” (c. 1803-1812), which contains arsenic-laced pages. Photo Credit: Kimberly A. Harmon, CIH, Industrial Hygienist, Office of Safety, Health, and Environmental Management (OSHEM), Smithsonian Institution
2. Portraits of unidentified New Orleans subjects, from "Ledger book of William Bache" by William Bache, black paper coated silhouettes mounted on paper, c. 1803-1812. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA; partial gift of Sarah Bache Bloise
3. Cleveland Museum of Art staff studying drawings by Edgar Degas in the museum’s paper conservation lab. Photography courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
4. National Gallery of Canada curators, conservators and technicians installing Gathered Leaves: Discoveries from the Drawings Vault. Photo: Sonia Del Re
5. Installation view of Gathered Leaves: Discoveries from the Drawings Vault on display at the Audain Art Museum, Whistler. Photo: Oisin McHugh
6. Installation view of Gathered Leaves: Discoveries from the Drawings Vault on display at the Audain Art Museum, Whistler. Photo: Oisin McHugh
7. Travel snapshots from Betye Saar's datebook for her trip to Haiti, 17-23 July 1978. Courtesy of the artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles, California. Photo: Robert Wedemeyer
8. Hinko Smrekar (Ljubljana, 1883-1942), "Masquerade of the Slovenian Painters and Sculptors", 1913, ink, watercolour, paper, 450 x 660 cm, signed and dated right on the side: HSMREKAR I RECTE VAN SMERY I GER IL. 1913 National Gallery of Slovenia, NG G 855

06/16/2026

A crucial goal of the Paper Project was to enhance material knowledge of the broad range of techniques found in the graphic arts, especially as training opportunities had become rarer across the field. Curators of all levels from around the world were able to learn as students again through 32 workshops, hands-on technical learning sessions, and collections study seminars that explored methods used in prints and drawings throughout history.

Many participants reported that the knowledge they gained through these activities advanced their careers, and half of them have started new collections research after completing the workshops. Here’s what some participants had to say about their experience.

Photos:
1. Participants in the 2019 Getty workshop work in the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts during their "Making Prints" session. Photo by Heather Linton
2. Curators practicing traditional sheet-forming techniques during a hands-on session exploring Japanese papermaking on the last day of the seminar. Credit: Dieu Donné
3. APS-Getty Workshop in Minneapolis (July 24-28, 2023): Highpoint Center for Printmaking, July 24, 2023. Photo: Elisa German
4. Fabrication of pastel sticks, Isabelle Roché cutting the newly formed sticks, Maison du Pastel, Paris, France. Credit: Maison du Pastel, Paris
5. Margarita Lizcano-Hernandez working with Tamarind PTP graduate student Janessa Lewis in the workshop. Courtesy of Tamarind Institute.

06/15/2026

Our international Paper Project initiative is wrapping up after eight years of support for prints and drawings curators to grow their skills, strengthen their networks, and engage new audiences with graphic arts collections. We are grateful to all our partners around the world who developed exhibitions, publications, microsites, and professional workshops fostering curatorial innovation in the field.

This week, we’re looking back on the organizations, participants, and projects that helped build a lasting scholarly network that will continue to grow and evolve, even as the Paper Project draws to a close.

Learn more about the Paper Project: https://www.getty.edu/projects/paper-project/

Images:
1. Domenico Pino and Emily Friedman engaging in close looking at the Istituto Centrale per la Grafica. Photo by Camilla Colzani
2. A digital etching table in the ""Acid Lab"" exhibition at the Kunstmuseum Basel. Photo: Max Ehrengruber
3. Papermaker Ruth Lingen (right) shares artwork and didactics with the seminar cohort at Pace Paper. Credit: Dieu Donné
4. Elisabeth Gernerd, Rena Hoisington, Philip Sykas, Cécile Tainturier, and Sylvia Houghteling discuss Newberry Library books. Photo: Anne & John ZRImages
5. Alice Ottazzi learning to make her own watermarked paper at the historic Fabriano paper mill. Photo by Camilla Colzani

Alt text:

Text: 500 curators at all career stages participated. Image: Two people crouch over a large book with gold pages while four people stand behind them talking
Text: 100+ projects supported. Image: Person examining digital etchings and other art items on a screen table
Text: 55: percentage of participants who started new research after attending Paper Project workshops. Image: Person pointing at an abstract artwork on a table surrounded by a group of people
Text: 34 countries represented by participants. Image: People crowd around a table and point at illustrated books
Text: 8 years of funding and network building. Image: Person with long blonde hair and a green apron making paper on a board while another person in a green apron looks at the process

06/15/2026

06/10/2026

Art Recovery LA (ARLA) was formed in response to the devastating 2025 Los Angeles wildfires, and a new Getty grant is helping the organization expand its support to impacted communities in Altadena and the Pacific Palisades. ARLA brings together local art conservators to help individuals and institutions rescue and conserve damaged cultural items, from family heirlooms to major collections. The new funding will enable ARLA to continue offering conservation clinics, strengthen coordination with emergency responders and cultural organizations, and improve preparedness for future disasters.

Learn more and read the press release: https://sites.google.com/view/artrecoveryla/about/announcements

Want to be part of the action? ARLA is seeking a Program Manager to manage programming, partnerships, and strategic planning on behalf of their steering committee. Learn about the position and apply: https://www.bacc.org/arla-program-manager