If there was ever a program that exemplifies the importance of longevity in the arts, the Getty Foundation’s Pacific Standard Time initiative might just be it. For more than a decade now, Pacific Standard Time (formerly known as On the Record) has been invested in examining the ways in which Latin American and Latino culture has shaped Los Angeles through an artistic lens. It has awarded invaluable arts grants to premier Southern California arts institutions in order to execute scholarly investigations on the topic that have in many ways changed LA’s local art history.
Last month, the Getty Foundation announced that it would be offering even more grants on behalf of Pacific Standard Time, this time for a massive undertaking called LA/LA. LA/LA, which stands for “Los Angeles/Latin America,” seeks to delve even deeper into the ways that Latin American culture has impacted Los Angeles’ identity. The Getty Foundation recently awarded arts grants to 40 Southern California Institutions for the expansive Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA collaboration, including Armory Center for the Arts, the Craft and Folk Art Museum, the Hammer Museum, and dozens of others.
The Getty Foundation is dedicated to unearthing LA’s deepest cultural roots. / Image: Roger Wollstadt via Flickr CC
In 2013, a smaller scale program called Pacific Standard Time Presents: Modern Architecture in L.A. took place, following the incredibly influential two-year project, Pacific Standard Time: Art in LA 1945-1980. These arts initiatives are in line with the Getty Foundation’s commitment to “supporting individuals and institutions committed to advancing the greater understanding and preservation of the visual arts in Los Angeles and throughout the world.” Funded by the J. Paul Getty Trust, the Getty Foundation seeks to strengthen art history as a global discipline, and also provides support to local arts programs and institutions that want to enrich their offerings.
Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA is set to be complete by 2017, in which the dozens of grant recipients will exhibit their findings and contribute to the cultural conversation that links the Los Angeles of today with its Latin American roots. For more information about the Getty Foundation’s massive arts initiative, be sure to visit www.getty.edu.