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Wesley Hand
Professor Malvin
English 115
24 October 2015
3.2 AUTOETHNOGRAPHY REPORT
The Getty center located in downtown Los Angeles California was opened in December
of 1997, and is a large collection of art pieces gathered together by the art enthusiasts of the area.
The collection of artwork incudes pictures, paintings of all types, sculptors, and even entire
rooms rebuilt with the objects of the era. This allows the visitor to wonder back though time to
visit the art work of the past. Each separate building contains a different time period, and many
different artists. Although the collection is now housed at the new Getty center, it originated as a
small collection of work by the man named J. Paul Getty, and resided in his home in Malibu.
Soon after Mr. Gettys passing, his collection of art far outgrew the space he had available to
him. His life as a contributor to many organizations and his well-established figure to the public
allowed his corporation to building a museum wing to hold all of the art. The Getty center of Los
Angeles was then born, costing over 1.3 million dollars to construct. After all of his artwork was
moved from his home in the hills to the brand new museum, they then turned his Malibu beach
home into the Getty Villa. Although his home still contains some of his favorite work it mostly
consists of gardens and a splendid view. Both the museum and the Villa attract over one million
people annually, regardless of the small drop off of attendance after 2006, the Getty foundation
still manages to make over 3 billion dollars a year on the collection of pieces.

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The Getty center contains many buildings all containing collection of work based on time
periods, having a very similar theme throughout. The space of these rooms flows very well, with
large open ceiling and neutral colors on the walls. The design of the center was constructed to
allow the visitor to flow from one time period to the next with much ease. I found myself moving
slowly through time from one room to the next without thinking of the shift. All of the artwork is
well placed, and well taken care of. The Getty museum as a whole was quite an incredible
experience.
My personal experience with the collection of the Getty foundation opened my eyes to a
world I had no ideas was so interesting. Mr. Gettys passion for art directly translates to the art he
collected. I could see he was interested mostly in the depression era, as almost all of the work
was of suppression of women and the strength of the men. Other collections included that of
Egyptian hieroglyphics and states from incredible sculptors. Getty himself had a fine taste in
artwork and had a wonderful heart to share it with those less fortunate than himself.
The entire museum sits atop the hills surrounding the city, allowing one to feel as though
they are atop the world. From the citys point of view, the building looks like a work of art all on
its own. The flowing lines of the walls and light colors can make the structure very identifiable.
For years I found myself wanting to visit and this project allowed me to expand my knowledge
of the art world. The Getty can help anyone who is interested in art to visit for no cost. This
location brings a sense culture to downtown Los Angeles, more so then the people show. Mr.
Getty was a man who had a passion for the finer things and life and decided to share his passion
with the city. The Getty foundation has contributed a massive amount of culture to L.A. and has
been selfless in their assistance to educate the public about post 20th century artwork. I would
advise everyone to visit both the Villa and the Museum to see the passion of Mr. Getty.

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Work Cited:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getty_Center
Proof of Visit:

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This was taken on my iphone 5 from the back deck of the Getty center.

This was taken with y girlfriend hanna and I appoligoze for the PDA, but we actually
ended up making a date night out of the project. I must have forgoten to save my ticket stub but
this picture does have the geo tag on it. I hope this is enough proof, im sorry I could not provide
better evidence.

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