Getty Conservation Institute

We’re working to preserve the world’s cultural heritage with partners across the globe. Our home is the Getty Center in Los Angeles.

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Only a few more days to RSVP for our *free* film screening and Q&A with Ofelia and Rosanna Esparza!

🗓️ Saturday, June 6, 2026
🕒 3:00 pm
📍Getty Center and Online
🔗 RSVP to attend in person or online: https://t.co/Lb1sme1lO8

Long recognized for their role in helping establish and sustain Día de los Muertos traditions in the city, Ofelia Esparza and her daughter, Rosanna Esparza Ahrens, have shaped the practice of creating ofrendas, or altars, as both a communal ritual and a contemporary art form.

In the short film, "Ofelia and Rosanna Esparza: Made to Remember" (11:55 min), they reflect on the ofrenda as both cultural obligation and art: a bridge between the living and the dead, and between the stories of generations past and those yet to come.

Following the screening, Ofelia and Rosanna Esparza will join Los Angeles County's Civic Art Conservation and Collections Manager Laleña Vellanoweth for a conversation on the conservation of their work and audience Q&A.

This film is part of the Artist Dialogues series.

🖼️ "Raíces Cósmicas" (Cosmic Roots) by Ofelia Esparza, 2018.
📸 Courtesy of the Artist and the Vincent Price Art Museum

[Getty Conservation Institute @GCIConservation]

Earlier this year, we brought together 11 experts from across North America to explore nature-based pest deterrents for museums and cultural heritage institutions. Among them was Madeline Corona, conservator and “resident pest detective” at the Getty Museum. See how her work helps protect our galleries!

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Meet the Getty Museum's resident pest detective, Madeline Corona.

Every museum in the world deals with pests, they're just a fact of life. Here's what we do to keep our galleries safe from pests that might want to snack on our works of art.

[Getty Conservation Institute @GCIConservation]

The Treatment Strategies for Painted Outdoor Sculpture workshop concluded with a public panel at the University of Melbourne, featuring Indonesian‑Australian artist Jumaadi and Melbourne‑based artist Ling. Both artists shared their perspectives on the conservation of their work, addressing issues such as delegated fabrication and how tolerances for change can evolve once works are installed outdoors.

Centering artists’ voices enriched the conversation and opened it to a wider community, highlighting the vital role of long‑term care and maintenance in sustaining outdoor sculpture.

📸 Photos by Stamatina Hasiotis
1. Conservation Institute Head of Collections Stavroula Golfomitsou opening the panel
2. Jumaadi describing the shift from his preferred buffalo hide to painted steel to adapt his work for outdoor display
3. From left to right: Artist Ling, his sculpture "Crushed Can - Proof of Concept," Robyn Slogget (Cripps), artist Jumaadi, Caroline Kyi (Cripps) holding Jumaadi’s smaller scale work, Ellen Moody, Stavroula Golfomitsou (Conservation Institute) and Eliza O’Donnell (Cripps)

[Getty Conservation Institute @GCIConservation]

Painted outdoor sculpture poses unique challenges when surfaces are damaged or vandalized: uniform finishes are especially unforgiving to repair. The Treatment Strategies for Painted Outdoor Sculpture workshop addresses these issues through targeted, hands‑on activities that share practical tips and techniques.

In the first session, participants practiced local retouching, testing a range of fills, inpainting media, and polishing compounds to navigate repairs from shallow scratches to deep gouges. The second hands‑on session focused on graffiti removal, with samples marked by spray paint, Sharpies, stickers, and more. Participants experimented with dry methods, solvents, hydrogels, and poultices, learning how to remove unwanted materials while preserving the painted surface beneath.

📸:
1. Retouching activity in action (photo credit: Susanne Rawson)
2. A participant carefully removing loose paint around a loss on a coupon for retouching (photo credit: Gary Sommerfeld)
3. Conservation Institute conservator Ellen Moody presenting on graffiti removal (photo credit: Susanne Rawson)
4. Conservation Institute Head of Collections Stavroula Golfomitsou and workshop instructor Abigail Mack testing approaches for graffiti removal

[Getty Conservation Institute @GCIConservation]

Last month, the 17th International Symposium on Wood and Furniture Conservation—organized by Stichting Ebenist and the Rijksmuseum—brought together leading professionals in the field. Furniture conservator Stéphanie Auffret (Getty Conservation Institute) presented alongside Yannick Chastang (private practice, UK; former Getty Scholar) and wooden object conservator Antonia Gerstner (Nationalmuseet, Denmark; former Conservation Institute Graduate Intern).

The field of furniture conservation has evolved from craft-based training to academic study, leading to changes in practices and knowledge, and a perceived generational divide.

Their paper, “Perspectives on the Evolution of the Field of Furniture Conservation,” draws on conversations with more than 25 professionals across France, the UK, and Germany, with additional insights from Asia, where craftsmanship remains highly valued.

Together, they reflected on changes in the field of furniture restoration-conservation, what caused these changes (including evolution of training), and how differences in conservation approaches across regions and over time can inspire us to bridge past and current practices for a stronger future.

[Getty Conservation Institute @GCIConservation]

Join us for a free webinar: Shifting Perspectives on Damage, Change, and Value

📅 Thursday, June 11
⏰ 9:00–10:30 AM (PST)
🎟️ Registration required: https://t.co/gGgbxytUAS

Hosted by the American Institute for Conservation's Microfading Tester International Discussion Group and Preventive Care Network, this webinar explores the boundaries between material change, damage, and value, revealing how museum policies can shift from the reduction of risk for material loss at all costs to the creation of value through increasing object access, visibility, and connection.

While scientific tools offer more precise ways to detect material change, recognizing that damage is a value-based judgment, rather than an objective outcome, becomes critical.
This webinar extends the discussion from the session of the same name at the 2026 AIC/CAC-ACCR annual meeting.

🔗 Learn more: https://t.co/qkAdVLjd8y See less

[Getty Conservation Institute @GCIConservation]

Late last month, 24 conservation professionals gathered in Melbourne for Treatment Strategies for Painted Outdoor Sculpture, a five‑day workshop presented with the National Gallery of Victoria and The University of Melbourne. Now in its third iteration, the course brought together an international cohort and instructors from the US and across Australia to tackle the complex challenges of painted outdoor sculpture, combining technical expertise with critical observation.

The week began with close looking: touring NGV’s sculpture collection and public artworks in the City of Melbourne to sharpen participants’ ability to spot and diagnose artwork conditions caused by weathering, the method of paint application, and site environment.

📷🖼️:
1. The workshop cohort under Yayoi Kusama’s monumental painted bronze, Dancing Pumpkin, 2020. Photo credit: Predrag Cancar. Courtesy of Yayoi Kusama Inc.

2. Participants learn about the history of NGV's mixed media sculpture Noble Ape by Louise Paramor during a lecture by conservator Di Whittle in the museum’s conservation labs. Photo credit: Garry Sommerfeld. Courtesy of Louise Paramor.

3. Examining painted elements of the public concrete sculpture Monument Park by Callum Morton. Courtesy of City of Melbourne.

4. Discussing a potential maintenance plan for the public fiberglass sculpture Silence by Aidan Mauriks. Courtesy of City of Melbourne.

[Getty Conservation Institute @GCIConservation]

It's time for another free #DigitalResource in conservation! From @FranceArchives and @C2RMF, 12 tutorial videos in English on the preventive conservation of archive, library and museum collections https://t.co/AfzwKqMq4e

[Getty Conservation Institute @GCIConservation]

🚨 This is the last week to apply for our workshop on the patination of bronze sculpture!

Applications due by May 31, 2026. https://t.co/PBp7FDkCip

The third-iteration of this four-day workshop equips conservators with the practical skills and knowledge needed to better understand chemical patinas and their application and to effectively communicate with artists and fabricators about patination when necessary.

It will be held October 27–30, 2026, at the Getty Center in LA.

Photo by Karen Du. © 2025 J. Paul Getty Trust

[Getty Conservation Institute @GCIConservation]

Join us in welcoming nine new residents to our Conservation Guest Scholars program! 🎉

Recipients are in residence at the Conservation Institute for a three-month or six-month term, in which they pursue their own projects free from work-related obligations, make use of research collections at the Getty Center and Getty Villa, and participate with other Getty scholars, fellows, and interns in the intellectual life of Getty.

Learn more about their backgrounds and upcoming work: https://t.co/BUyJ7WYNhh

[Getty Conservation Institute @GCIConservation]

Calling graduate students in Peru!

Join us at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (PUCP) or the Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas (UPC) for an opportunity to learn about our work in heritage conservation.

Learn about the Earthen Architecture Initiative, our Seismic Retrofitting Project in Peru, and hear from both former and current Conservation Institute Graduate Interns who have contributed to this work. You’ll gain insights into how to build a career in earthen architecture conservation.

📆 June 8, 2026
🕕 6:00 PM
📍Aula A-100, PUCP, San Miguel

📆 June 9, 2026
🕡 6:30 PM
📍Auditorio Bancalari – Campus Monterrico, UPC, Lima

See the flyers below for more details.

[Getty Conservation Institute @GCIConservation]

Join us for a *free* film screening and Q&A with Ofelia and Rosanna Esparza!

🗓️ Saturday, June 6, 2026
🕒 3:00 pm
📍Getty Center and Online
🔗RSVP to attend in person or online: https://t.co/Lb1sme1TDG

Long recognized for their role in helping establish and sustain Día de los Muertos traditions in the city, Ofelia Esparza and her daughter, Rosanna Esparza Ahrens, have shaped the practice of creating ofrendas, or altars, as both a communal ritual and a contemporary art form.

In the short film, "Ofelia and Rosanna Esparza: Made to Remember" (11:55 min), they reflect on the ofrenda as both cultural obligation and art: a bridge between the living and the dead, and between the stories of generations past and those yet to come.

Following the screening, Ofelia and Rosanna Esparza will join Los Angeles County's Civic Art Conservation and Collections Manager Laleña Vellanoweth for a conversation on the conservation of their work and audience Q&A.

This film is part of the Artist Dialogues series.

🖼️ "Raíces Cósmicas" (Cosmic Roots) by Ofelia Esparza, 2018.
📸 Courtesy of the Artist and the Vincent Price Art Museum

[Getty Conservation Institute @GCIConservation]

The General Consul of Spain in Los Angeles, Mr. Gerardo Fueyo Bros, together with the Cultural Counselor of Spain, Mr. Antonio Álvarez Barthe, visited the Getty Center last month.

They began their visit at the Conservation Institute, touring our facilities with Stavroula Golfomitsou, head of our Collections department, and Ana Pastor Pérez, senior archaeologist. This was followed by a visit to the Getty Research Institute, accompanied by Idurre Alonso, head of Modern and Contemporary Collections, and a tour of the Getty Museum led by education specialist Liz Andres.

The purpose of the visit was to learn about the artifacts of Spanish origin held by Getty, discuss partnerships with Spanish institutions, and explore ways to strengthen ties and develop new avenues of collaboration. It also provided an opportunity to highlight the value of our human and social capital, as well as the role our institutions play on the international stage.

[Getty Conservation Institute @GCIConservation]

It's #FreeFriday! Today we're featuring "Managing Change: Sustainable Approaches to the Conservation of the Built Environment," proceedings of the 4th Annual @WHUSA1965 International Symposium, held in 2001 and co-organized with the Historic Preservation program @WeitzmanSchool https://t.co/hHUnLcVM7w

[Getty Conservation Institute @GCIConservation]

Did you know that, despite the abundance of Black heritage sites worldwide, only about 3 percent of sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places recognize Black history? In Los Angeles, just over 4 percent of the city’s 1,319 designated landmarks are associated with African American history.

To help address this disparity, the Getty Foundation partnered with the National Trust for Historic Preservation African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund to launch Conserving Black Modernism, a $4.6 million grant program supporting the preservation of modern sites designed by Black architects and designers across the United States.

Complementing this national effort, we're collaborating locally with the City of Los Angeles’s Office of Historic Resources to advance the African American Historic Places Los Angeles project, which empowers communities to identify, document, and steward their own heritage.

Learn more about these endeavors: 🔗 https://t.co/5Lh3WMqO4f

📷: Bill Sampson (left) performs with a band at Jack’s Basket Room, the famed South Central after-hours jazz club known as “the place where everyone comes to play.” Courtesy of the Tom & Ethel Bradley Center, CSUN

📷: Conserving Black Modernism workshop attendees review materials from the Paul R. Williams Collection. The Getty Research Institute holds the archive of architect Paul R. Williams (1894–1980), the first African American AIA member, including original sketches, drawings, and personal papers. Jointly owned by the USC School of Architecture and the Getty Research Institute. © Della M. Williams Trust. Dated December 15, 1988

📷: Exterior of the Dunbar Hotel, the historic Black-owned landmark that anchored Central Avenue’s 1930s–’40s jazz scene and was later restored as part of the Dunbar Village redevelopment. Cbl62, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

📷: Conserving Black Modernism workshop attendees touring Carson City Hall, a Late Modern architectural gem designed by a diverse team led by prominent Black architect Robert Kennard.

[Getty Conservation Institute @GCIConservation]

📢 Conservation professionals! Apply now for a training workshop on the patination of bronze sculpture.

Applications due by May 31, 2026. https://t.co/PBp7FDkCip

The third-iteration of this four-day workshop equips conservators with the practical skills and knowledge needed to better understand chemical patinas and their application and to effectively communicate with artists and fabricators about patination when necessary.

It will be held October 27–30, 2026, at the Getty Center in LA.

Photo by Karen Du. © 2025 J. Paul Getty Trust

[Getty Conservation Institute @GCIConservation]

📚 New to the Conservation Collection 📚

Recent additions include books on textile technique with indigo, conservation as a social science, Japanese ceramic techniques with colored clay, issues pertaining to ethnographic museums, critical explorations of the impact of urban development, professional principles in de-carbonizing the built environment, new archaeological research in Rapa Nui and the Pacific, and the architectural history of the Oratory of the Madonna della Salute in Italy.

See the full list (PDF): https://t.co/WEoF4rCwcl

[Getty Conservation Institute @GCIConservation]

Join us for a free webinar: Shifting Perspectives on Damage, Change, and Value
📆 Thursday, June 11
🕘 9:00–10:30 AM (PST)
🎟️ Registration required: https://t.co/gGgbxyusqq

Hosted by the American Institute for Conservation's Microfading Tester International Discussion Group and Preventive Care Network, this webinar explores the boundaries between material change, damage, and value, revealing how museum policies can shift from the reduction of risk for material loss at all costs to the creation of value through increasing object access, visibility, and connection.

While scientific tools offer more precise ways to detect material change, recognizing that damage is a value-based judgment, rather than an objective outcome, becomes critical.

This webinar extends the discussion from the session of the same name at the 2026 AIC/CAC-ACCR annual meeting.

🔗 Learn more: https://t.co/qkAdVLjKY6

[Getty Conservation Institute @GCIConservation]

Ofelia and Rosanna Esparza: Film Screening and Artist Q&A

🗓️ Saturday, June 6, 2026
🕒 3:00 pm
📍Getty Center and Online
Free

🔗RSVP to attend in person or online: https://t.co/Lb1sme1TDG

Long recognized for their role in helping establish and sustain Día de los Muertos traditions in the city, Ofelia Esparza and her daughter, Rosanna Esparza Ahrens, have shaped the practice of creating ofrendas, or altars, as both a communal ritual and a contemporary art form.

In the short film, "Ofelia and Rosanna Esparza: Made to Remember" (11:55 min), they reflect on the ofrenda as both cultural obligation and art: a bridge between the living and the dead, and between the stories of generations past and those yet to come.

Following the screening, Ofelia and Rosanna Esparza will join Los Angeles County's Civic Art Conservation and Collections Manager Laleña Vellanoweth for a conversation on the conservation of their work and audience Q&A.

This film is part of the Artist Dialogues series.

🖼️ "Raíces Cósmicas" (Cosmic Roots) by Ofelia Esparza, 2018.
📸 Courtesy of the Artist and the Vincent Price Art Museum