By Jeff Hall
A few months back I wrote about The Getty Scholars. These are very smart people from all over the world who spend time at The Getty working on high-level research projects.
These projects could be about painters, sculptors, illustrations, old books, ancient architecture – anything at all having to do with art.
Many, if not most, of The Getty Scholars have PhDs.
They all live together in a building called “the Pink Palace,” on Sunset, in Brentwood.
Every day, Monday through Friday, a shuttle bus picks them up in the morning and takes them to The Getty – and then drops them off at night.
Some months ago, my wife and I were taking a walk on Westgate and we met a lovely couple from Germany.
They explained he was a Getty Scholar, specializing in the work of a painter from Mexico.
Next thing you know, we had them over for wine and cheese – and then we got invited over to the Pink Palace and we met several more Getty Scholars.
We are now trying to institutionalize this idea of regular get-togethers between The Getty Scholars and Brentwood residents. The Getty is something that makes us all proud.
We just had our first pot luck dinner at the home of Val Howaerda and Paul Kruger.
It was quite lovely, really. I think we had nine people total, very evenly split between locals and Getty Scholars.
The food was great, the wine flowed freely, and our Getty visitors were most appreciative. The conversation moved quickly – everyone was so darned interesting!
These gatherings are good for Brentwoodians, in that we get exposed to really interesting topics we might otherwise never think about – or even know about.
These events are also good for The Getty Scholars, because they get to meet “the locals” of Brentwood and spend an evening outside the Pink Palace.
Best of all, it just feels good to be a goodwill ambassador for Bentwood.
One attendee asked me for a list of bars and restaurants. Another wanted to know where to travel for day trips on weekends.
My wife and I have a standing invitation from a former Getty Scholar to come visit her in Northern Ireland; yet another invited us to come visit them at their villa in Italy! Wow!
The word about our little exchange program is starting to get out. Others from Brentwood want to attend – or host – a dinner. We are gearing up to do our next one, in January.
We’d like to find lots of Brentwoodians to host these dinners, as there are slightly over 40 Getty Scholars in residence at any one time. They stay here anywhere from three to nine months.
If the fine people of Brentwood hosted one dinner a month, it could take several months in a row to make sure everyone from the Pink Palace is included.
And then it will start all over again as scholars head home, replaced by incoming Getty Scholars.
We hope this program takes on a life of its own and goes on for years and years.
The really great thing is that The Getty will do all the coordination of schedules.
You pick the date and time, invite a few of your friends, figure out who will bring what that evening.
Then, at the appointed hour, several Getty Scholars will simply show up at your door. We did our first “official” dinner on a Sunday, starting around 6 p.m., if memory serves.
If you are interested in art, or art history – or if someone in your family is – that would make this even better.
But you don’t have to be smart about art; I certainly am not. My wife and I do learn something new every time we meet The Getty Scholars.
I think just meeting them and making them feel welcome is best of all.
If you’d like to host or attend one of these Getty Scholar dinners, please send an email to jeff.hall@brentwoodnewsla.com and we’ll put you on the list!
