Scheduled to open in 2017, Pacific Standard Time: L.A./L.A. (Los Angeles/Latin America) will offer an in-depth exploration of the artistic connections between Los Angeles and Latin America, the relationships between Latin America and the rest of the world, the history of exchange among Latin American countries, and the Latin American diaspora.
“Ever since its founding in 1781 as El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles, our city has had deep roots in Latin America making it a nexus of cultural creativity between North and South,” said Getty President and CEO Jim Cuno. “In the collaborative spirit of the initial Pacific Standard Time initiative, the topic was developed as a result of discussions with the directors of all four Getty programs and our key planning partners. This renewed collaboration by the Pacific Standard Time partners creates the opportunity for a concentrated examination of Latin American visual arts in all their diversity.”
Cuno explained that following the model of the first Pacific Standard Time initiative, the Getty Foundation recently invited a small group of planning partners to apply for research funding for L.A./L.A., which will be followed by a larger competition for additional organizations early this summer. “Research was crucial to the success of the Pacific Standard Time exhibitions, and therefore we will again divide the grantmaking for the new initiative into two phases, research and implementation,” said Getty Foundation Director Deborah Marrow. “We look forward to the fresh insights that certainly will emerge from the new studies to be undertaken.”
Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A., 1945–1980, was an unprecedented collaboration of arts institutions across Southern California joining together to tell the story of the birth of the Los Angeles art scene. Supported by more than $11 million in grants from the Getty Foundation, Pacific Standard Time ran from October 2011 to April 2012 and consisted of 68 exhibitions offered by 60 partnering cultural organizations, along with dozens of events, a week-long performance and public art festival, and programs and exhibitions at affiliated galleries. More than 40 related publications documented Los Angeles’ role in art history. According to an analysis by the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation, the initiative generated $280.5 million in economic output in Southern California.
While planning and research are underway for Pacific Standard Time: L.A./L.A., the Getty is launching a smaller collaborative initiative, Pacific Standard Time Presents: Modern Architecture in L.A., designed to maintain the momentum between the major Pacific Standard Time initiatives. Modern Architecture in L.A. opens in April, featuring 11 exhibitions and dozens of events through July 2013.