Reaching Out: Getty Broadens Access to Its Influential Pacific Standard Time Exhibition

Since its launch in the fall of 2011, the Getty-funded exhibition Pacific Standard Time continues to grow in both influence and breadth. Its next phase, Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA, is slated to run September 15, 2017 and through January 31, 2018. 

Not long ago, Getty announced it has added 24 cultural institutions to its official list of participating exhibition spaces, upping the total number to 75, as well as awarding more than $1.25 million in new grants.

Check out the museum-heavy list of institutions and you'll find, interspersed among many fascinating programs such as a history on pre-Columbian art in South America at the Mingei International Museum in San Diego, two unique recipient organizations.

First, the LA Promise Fund, a nonprofit dedicated to preparing LA students for success in "college, career, and life," and second, Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD).

According to Getty these organizations were awarded grants for educational programs to ensure that students, especially those from underserved schools, "are among the members of the public that are served through the Getty's initiative."

The LA Promise Fund netted $450,000. According to Getty, the fund is primarily focused on the county level, thereby enabling the LAUSD, which received $205,000, to "concentrate on increasing access to the district's most underserved schools." Both organizations will implement teacher professional development programs and lead field trips to the exhibitions from September 2017 to January 2018.

The takeaway here is pretty obvious. We can safely imply that the brains behind the program, for whom boosting arts engagement is huge priority, made a conscious decision to expand its scope beyond traditional museums, which from where I'm sitting, is a very good thing, especially when you consider the precarious state of public school arts funding in the Los Angeles area.

For a closer look at the exhibition itself click here.