PST ART - Getty Center

Southern California’s PST ART: Art & Science Collide event, which brings together more than 800 artists for several months of exhibitions and programming at cultural institutions and galleries across the region, is a Getty Initiative. So, it’s fitting that the Getty Center is hosting eight PST ART exhibits this season. From photography to light installations to Medieval art to a new perspective on one of the museum’s most popular paintings, there will be something for everyone at the Getty this fall. Here’s what you should know to plan your visit.

The Getty Center website notes that GPS can give incorrect directions to the museum and advises visitors to use N. Sepulveda Blvd. & Getty Center Drive, Los Angeles 90049 to get correct directions to the public entrance. If you’re driving, park in the museum’s garage. It’s $25 for most of the day, $15 after 3pm and $10 after 6pm for evening events and on Saturdays.

If you’re taking Metro, the 761 bus will drop you off at Sepulveda and Getty Center Drive. The bus is accessible from both the E line’s Sepulveda/Expo station on the Westside and the Van Nuys G Line station in the San Fernando Valley.

Once you arrive, you will catch a tram that takes visitors from the parking garage uphill to the museum. There’s a lot of signage here, as well as staff that can point you in the right direction, so don’t worry about getting lost.

Located off the 405 Freeway just minutes from the Getty, Hotel Angeleno offers a free shuttle to the museum, as well as UCLA, Westwood Village and Brentwood. The hotel's penthouse restaurant, West, boasts panoramic views and features a SoCal-inspired menu for daily dinner and weekend brunch.

Abstracted Light: Experimental Photography
(Through Nov. 24, 2024)
Man Ray, Tōyō Miyatake, László Moholy-Nagy and Francis Bruguière are amongst the artists whose experiments in photography and film appear in Abstracted Light. The show, which opened in August, looks primarily at works from the 1920s and later, a time where these artists played with light to create innovative techniques, like Moholy-Nagy and Man Ray’s revival of the photogram to take pictures without cameras. Be sure to check out the experimental films on view in this exhibit as well, which include Mary Ellen Bute’s Rhythm in Light, a precursor to the music video that was made in 1934.

Sculpting with Light: Contemporary Artists and Holography
(Through Nov. 24, 2024)
In the late 1990s, artists like Ed Ruscha, Louise Bourgeois and John Baldessari were invited to make holograms. Their experiments are on view in Sculpting with Light, alongside recent works from artists Deana Lawson and Matthew Schreiber.

Lumen: The Art and Science of Light
(Through Dec. 8, 2024)
Merging past and present, Lumen highlights the ways in which Christian, Jewish and Muslim philosophers, theologians and artists studied light in Medieval times. The exhibition also includes two related installations from contemporary artists. On view through January 26, Helen Pashgian's Untitled [Lens] is a sculpture and light installation that will prompt viewers to question what they see. Charles Ross: Spectrum 14 will be ongoing in the Museum Entrance Hall, where prisms will cast varying hues of light across the rotunda.

Magnified Wonders: An 18th Century Microscope
(Through Feb. 2, 2025)
A microscope in the Getty’s collection reveals the intersection of art and science in 18th century France and it will be on view from September 10 through February 2 of next year. Magnified Wonders puts the spotlight on fashion and function with this Rococo object that wasn’t just stylish, but technologically advanced for the times.

Sensing the Future: Experiments in Art and Technology
(Through Feb. 23, 2025)
Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.) was a mid-1960s collaboration between the artists Robert Rauschenberg and Robert Whitman and Bell Labs engineers Billy Klüver and Fred Waldhauer that influenced the development of multimedia art as well as collaborative projects between artists and scientists. Sensing the Future looks at the story behind this influential project.

Ultra-Violet: New Light on Van Gogh’s Irises
(Oct. 1, 2024 - Jan. 19, 2025)
If you’ve ever visited the Getty, then you know that Vincent Van Gogh’s Irises draws a big crowd. From October 1 to January 19, you’ll have the chance to see Irises in a new light. Ultra-Violet looks at the conservation science behind the painting and how light has changed some of what visitors now see.

Rising Signs: The Medieval Science of Astrology
(Oct. 1, 2024 - Jan. 5, 2025)
Dig into Medieval astrology with Rising Signs, on view from October 1 through January 5. You’ll see how the beliefs of Europeans in the Middle Ages impacted the varied aspects of their lives, from medicine to farming.

Paper and Light
(Oct. 14, 2024 - Jan. 19, 2025)
The Getty’s 12-foot transparency by 18th century artist Louis Carrogis Carmontelle will be on view alongside works by Delacroix, Manet, Seurat and Tiepolo, as well contemporary artists like Vija Celmins, to show the intersection of Paper and Light.

There are multiple cafes and coffee carts located across the Getty Center campus. At these spots, you can pick up a coffee or tea and grab a snack or get a box lunch to eat at one of the many outdoor dining areas on the grounds. The Getty’s full-service restaurant has a menu that changes seasonally. With both indoor and outdoor seating, the restaurant does get busy, so call in advance or use OpenTable to make reservations.

PST ART is far from the only thing happening at Getty Center this fall. This sprawling hilltop complex is loaded with centuries of art to see and it’s really easy to lose track of time while roaming through the maze-like halls connecting the museum galleries. Plan to spend most of your day here to give yourself time to explore.

Before you arrive, download the GettyGuide app, which features audio tours. Bring your own headphones or earbuds if you plan to listen on a self-guided tour of the museum. There is free wifi at the museum, which can be helpful since cell service is a little finicky in the Santa Monica Mountains.

There’s a kiosk in the Museum Entrance Hall with maps written in multiple languages. Be sure to pick up one when you arrive. If it’s a particularly bright day, you might also want to pick up one of the sun umbrellas that are available near the doors.

Take time to stroll through the Robert Irwin-designed Central Garden. The California artist created this 134,000 square-foot living work of art to change with the seasons, so the specifics of what you’ll see will vary depending on when you visit. Be sure to also check out the Cactus Garden and multiple sculpture gardens located on the campus. And don’t forget to take in the views, whether it’s from one of the gardens or the lookout points inside the museum.

While it’s fairly ambitious to visit the Getty Center and another museum in one day, it is possible. If you’ve made reservations to visit both the Getty Center and Getty Villa on the same date, you might be able to get parking at both facilities for the price of one. Follow the directions on the Getty Center website for this deal. Also, note that the Getty Villa, which is home to the institution’s collection of ancient art, is in Pacific Palisades. If visiting both museums in one day is your plan, be sure to factor in extra time for traffic.

The Skirball Cultural Center is located fairly close to the Getty Center and is also accessible by the 761 bus. If you want to see the Skirball’s PST ART exhibition, Ancient Wisdom for a Future Ecology: Trees, Time and Technology (Oct. 17, 2024 - Mar. 2, 2025) on the same day as your Getty Center visit, be sure to get an early start.