Opening on October 1, 2011, Pacific Standard Time will bring together more than sixty cultural institutions throughout Southern California to tell the story of the rise of the Los Angeles art scene and how it became a new force in the art world. This collaboration, the largest ever undertaken by cultural institutions in the region, will continue through April 2012. It has been initiated by the Getty Foundation through grants totaling $10 million. Exploring and celebrating the significance of the crucial years after World War II through the tumultuous period of the 1960s and 70s, Pacific Standard Time encompasses developments from L.A. Pop to post-minimalism; from modernist architecture and design to multi-media installations; from the films of the African-American L.A. Rebellion to the feminist activities of the Woman’s Building; from ceramics to Chicano performance art; and from Japanese- American design to the pioneering work of artists’ collectives.
“As we mark the days toward the opening, the excitement about Pacific Standard Time continues to grow, and so does the project itself,” Deborah Marrow, interim President and CEO of the J. Paul Getty Trust stated. “What began as an effort to document the milestones in this region’s artistic history has expanded until it is now becoming a great creative landmark in itself. In fact, the story of Pacific Standard Time is so big, it needs this region-wide collaboration to tell it.”
Presenting the artistic evolution of Los Angeles through an unprecedented array of simultaneous exhibitions and programs, Pacific Standard Time involves institutions of every size and character: from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), the Hammer Museum and the Getty Museum, to the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens; California Institute of the Arts (CalArts); UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center; Japanese American National Museum; Watts Towers Arts Center; and many others. The participating institutions are
centered in Greater Los Angeles, but extend as far as San Diego, Orange County, Santa Barbara and Palm Springs.
In addition to the initiative’s official partners, Los Angeles galleries, many of which played a pivotal role in shaping the L.A. art scene of 1945 – 1980, will also develop their own programming around the Pacific Standard Time theme.
Mark Siegel, Chairman of the Getty’s Board of Trustees, commented, “We know that this era has had a million moments of impact on arts and culture across the United States and beyond. As we move toward the opening of Pacific Standard Time, and share the story of this era with the world, support for this major initiative continues to grow with the help of our community leaders, foundations and our presenting sponsor Bank of America."
“We are proud to be the presenting sponsor of Pacific Standard Time, a project which will bring together people of every neighborhood and background, and involve virtually all of this region’s arts institutions" stated Janet Lamkin, California State President of Bank of America. “We believe that supporting arts and culture contributes to a climate where innovation flourishes, economies grow, and people, business and communities thrive. We look forward to our banking centers becoming hubs for Pacific Standard Time, and our associates look forward to sharing information about the programs with their customers and local neighborhoods, to help extend the extraordinary opportunity of Pacific Standard Time to as many people as possible throughout the Southland and enrich the experience for them.”
Major donors who have now joined the expanded circle of support for Pacific Standard Time include Louise and John Bryson, David and Marianna Fisher, Maria Hummer Tuttle and Robert Holmes Tuttle, Jon and Lillian Lovelace, Anne and Jim Rothenberg, Henry and Elizabeth Segerstrom, Mark and Christina Siegel, The Ahmanson Foundation, The Broad Art Foundation, California Community Foundation, The James Irvine Foundation, The Mohn Family Foundation, The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation and the W.M. Keck Foundation by Robert Day, President.
The roster of more than fifty exhibitions opening in autumn 2011 will be augmented from January 20 through 29, 2012, by a Pacific Standard Time performance art and public art festival. Organized by the Getty Research Institute and LA><ART, the festival will present as many as 25 projects including re- stagings of historic performances, and reinterpretations by younger artists of the works of their predecessors. The festival will take place at institutions and sites from Malibu to Watts, and from Downtown to the desert, showcasing the critical component in the history of the period and the pathbreaking spirit of art in Southern California.
A virtual hub for Pacific Standard Time, www.pacificstandardtime.org currently offers up-to-date information about the participating partners and planned exhibitions. In advance of the opening, the site will also offer an experiential portal for the project enabling visitors to design their own tours of the Pacific Standard Time exhibitions and programs, download them to their handheld devices and carry the information along on their route.
In the spirit of collaboration, Pacific Standard Time participating institutions are also developing a program of cross-promotions throughout the region. Among the initiatives being offered to encourage visitors to move from one museum to another along the Pacific Standard Time circuit will be specially focused weekend programs to attract audiences to multiple exhibitions for an in-depth look at themes, and vouchers to enable people to explore additional Pacific Standard Time offerings. During the opening weekend celebrations in October 2011, Southern California residents, tourists, and community and art world leaders alike will also have the opportunity to take free shuttle buses between participating institutions, which will be provided by Pacific Standard Time sponsor South Coast Plaza.
Another feature of the cross-promotions will be the most collaborative region-wide volunteer program ever organized in Southern California. Aimed at providing visitors with person-to-person information, the program will deploy volunteers in readily identifiable Pacific Standard Time t-shirts to all participating sites, where they will answer questions, give directions and suggest other exhibitions and programs that the visitor might enjoy. The Pacific Standard Time marketing campaign and website will help to reinforce the cross-promotions throughout the region.
Partnerships have also been established with institutions from the travel and tourism industry to support visitors travelling to Southern California for Pacific Standard Time: the Four Seasons Los Angeles; Turon Travel, dedicated to creating bespoke travel itineraries of the international art community; and LA Inc., the Convention and Visitors Bureau, have all joined as official travel partners of Pacific Standard Time.
