The Getty's Last Season Before It Closes Has One Short Window When All Its Big Shows Overlap

The Getty Center closes to the public on March 15, 2027, and Getty plans to reopen it in spring 2028. For anyone in Brentwood, a different date matters more. The final round of exhibitions opens at different times and ends on three different dates. The season's seven headline shows are open together only from Tuesday, Dec. 15, through Sunday, Jan. 3. That gives you less than three weeks to see the full lineup in one visit before the museum closes for more than a year.

What's closing, and what has already closed

The closure is the largest set of changes since the Center opened in 1997. The plan covers upgrades to the tram, a new arrival and departure area, a renovated Welcome Hall with a new café and bookstore, refreshed galleries, and work on utilities across the campus, including cell service and Wi-Fi. The Los Angeles Times reported a cost estimate of $600 million to $800 million. It quoted Getty planning vice president Tim Whalen, who said the goal was to make arriving by tram "a much more welcoming, beautiful and art laden entry." The Art Newspaper reported that the new tram is expected to carry 400 more people per hour.

Part of the museum has already closed. The North Pavilion, the South Pavilion and the Plaza-level galleries of the East Pavilion are shut for renovation. Getty is using that time to replace 80 air-handling units, add restrooms and rework the displays. Most of what's still on view sits in the West Pavilion, plus the Upper Level of the East Pavilion and the Getty Research Institute galleries. Getty describes the March closure as a closure "to the public," and its announcement doesn't name any exception for the gardens.

In the official announcement, Getty president and CEO Katherine E. Fleming closed her statement with this line:

"We look forward to welcoming visitors back in spring 2028."

Seven shows, three end dates

The table below shows why the window is so short. Two photography shows close right after New Year's, and the Paul R. Williams exhibition doesn't open until mid-December.

Most of the last chances fall on March 14, the day before the closure. Four shows end that day. The two Los Angeles photography shows end ten weeks earlier, and the Hodges paintings end two weeks earlier. If you wait for a quiet weekend in February, you'll miss two of the seven, and in March you'll miss three. A smaller show, "The Holy Family at Home," closes Jan. 10.

What the overlap actually holds

The two photography shows belong together, and they're next to each other on the Lower Level of the West Pavilion. "Every Minute Is History," curated by Arpad Kovacs, brings together Laura Aguilar, Reynaldo Rivera, George Rodriguez, Patssi Valdez and Ricardo Valverde. The works include Valverde's hand-colored Lotería de Muertos and Rodriguez's Sunset Strip Riots, West Hollywood from 1966. "Instante/revelación," curated by Julieta Pestarino, covers 13 photographers and draws on a gift from Daniel Greenberg and Susan Steinhauser. It includes Lola Álvarez Bravo's En su propia cárcel from 1950 and Graciela Iturbide's El baño de Frida.

Joseph Wright of Derby is upstairs on the Plaza Level. "A Light in the Dark" reunites Wright's candlelight paintings from his London years, including the Getty's own rediscovered Two Boys with a Bladder and A Philosopher Giving that Lecture on the Orrery from 1766.

Reggie Burrows Hodges opened Oct. 20 in the East Pavilion. It's five paintings that respond to Orazio Gentileschi's Lot and His Daughters and Danaë and the Shower of Gold and to Artemisia Gentileschi's Lucretia. Davide Gasparotto curated it.

Paul R. Williams has the shortest run of the seven, about three months. "Architecture Across the Color Line" looks at how Williams's architecture served and worked with Black communities while pushing back against racial exclusion. The featured object is his ink rendering of First African Methodist Episcopal Church of Los Angeles, from about 1960. The show draws on archive materials the Getty recently acquired. Getty calls Williams a "quintessential Los Angeles architect." It's part of a larger tribute to Williams shared by three major Los Angeles art institutions.

Planning the visit from the bottom of the hill

Living close to the entrance at North Sepulveda Boulevard and Getty Center Drive helps with timing more than with getting in. Here's how to plan around the Dec. 15 to Jan. 3 window:

1. Book in early November. Admission is free but requires a timed-entry reservation, and reservations open six weeks ahead. On that schedule, Dec. 15 tickets should be available around the first week of November, and the holiday weekends a few weeks later.
2. Go on a Saturday night. The Center is open until 9 p.m. on Saturdays and until 6:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and on Sundays. It's closed Mondays. Parking costs $25 during the day, $15 after 3 p.m. and $10 after 6 p.m., but it's free after 6 p.m. on Saturdays. Payment is cashless, and you can't reserve parking. Arriving at 6 on Dec. 19, Dec. 26 or Jan. 2 gives you three hours inside for free. Holiday hours can change, so check Getty's calendar before you head up.
3. Use opening day. On Dec. 15, the first day of the Williams show, Getty holds a free curator's tour of "Every Minute Is History" at 3 p.m. That afternoon is the first chance to see all seven shows in one visit.
4. Watch the 405. Getty warns that the Caltrans I-405 Lane Rehabilitation Project may bring lane reductions or closures on the 405 and through the Sepulveda Pass. Getty suggests checking Caltrans QuickMap before you go. Metro bus 761 stops at the entrance.

If you'd rather go before the overlap, some dated programs come first:

• Nov. 8 and Nov. 22, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. A free, bilingual drop-in collage workshop for families. The last session is Dec. 13.
• Nov. 14, 6:30 p.m. Canto de Todes, a free, ticketed performance and conversation with Dorian Wood. It mixes chamber classical, folk, torch song and experimental music.
• Nov. 24, 3 p.m. A curator's tour of "Every Minute Is History" on the day the Wright show opens.
• Dec. 6, 4 p.m. Curator Julia Siemon gives a free talk on Wright as a painter and draftsman, followed by a light reception.
• Dec. 9, 3 p.m. A curator's tour of "Instante/revelación" in English.
• Dec. 12, 3 p.m. Artist Gala Porras-Kim's free talk, Non-Consenting Collaborators.

Getty also offers a free Art, Architecture, and Garden Tour every day. With the gardens' future access unclear, it may be worth taking that tour before March.

Where the Getty goes after March 14

During the closure, the Getty Villa will keep a full schedule of exhibitions, public programs and events. It will also add a gallery of paintings from the Center's collection, so some familiar works will hang alongside Greek and Roman antiquities. Villa admission is also free with a timed reservation, and parking is $25, or $15 after 3 p.m.

Brentwood will also get a new Getty venue. Getty is renovating a building on Sepulveda Boulevard across from the Center as a programming space. It will host special programs during the closure and stay open as a dedicated program space after the Center reopens. Getty has also bought property in Westwood to house its scholar programs. The site is near the planned Metro stop at Westwood and Wilshire, and Getty says more details will come later. When the Center reopens in spring 2028, Getty plans to have a rebuilt tram, a new Welcome Hall and revitalized galleries.

As a Brentwood neighbor, Debbie Weiss keeps an eye on the changes up the hill and along San Vicente, from new venues to traffic and day-to-day life on the Westside. If you want to talk about what the Getty's next few years mean for your corner of Brentwood, Let's Connect.