The museum complex sits on the hilltops of the Santa Monica Mountains in West L.A. The museum is a massive modernist complex which took more than 10 years to build, and is comprised of six buildings, numerous gardens, huge windows which allow streams of natural light to flow in, and more than 1.2 million square feet of fossilized travertine stone. The complex alone stands as one of California’s greatest architectural achievements. You can see more information on the architecture, including short videos on the construction and the architect, Richard Meier, by going to http://www.getty.edu/visit/places/architecture.html.
The J. Paul Getty Museum has an outstanding collection of Greek and Roman antiquities, European paintings, drawings, manuscripts, sculpture, decorative arts, and European and American photographs and offers a range of special exhibitions and educational programs. Art is showcased in 5 two-storied pavilions built around a central courtyard. Visitors can watch informational videos in the Museum Entrance Hall, and also visit each of the pavilion’s "Art Information Rooms" to learn about the museum’s collections and exhibits. For further information on the Getty Museum, go to their Web site at www.getty.edu.
After the Getty visit, we’ll head south to Orange County’s beautiful Laguna Beach, a small, charming and artistic community nestled along Pacific Coast Highway as it meets the beautiful "Canyons of the Lagunas." Laguna is as famous for its natural beauty as it is for its focus on the arts, hosting several nationally and internationally acclaimed arts festivals, including Festival of the Arts and Pageant of the Masters (held in July and August). For further information on Laguna’s calendar of events, go to http://ww.lagunabeachinfo.org/attractions.html. For general tourist information and to view some photos of this beautiful coastal town, go to http://www.lagunabeachinfo.org.