The next edition of the Getty Foundation‘s PST ART will be themed around cultural exchanges between Los Angeles and the Pacific Rim. The fourth edition of the initiative is set to open at institutions across Southern California in September 2030.
Justine Ludwig, the inaugural creative director of PST ART, officially started in her role last October but even before then she began meeting with different stakeholders around Los Angeles, “asking people what they were thinking about in this moment, what were the themes and issues they were seeing in the field, the blind spots that they felt like we had, and also, what were the advantages and challenges of past PSTs,” Ludwig told ARTnews in a phone interview.
The overwhelming consensus, Ludwig said, was that “all of our conversations were pointing to this as being the right time to address transpacific exchange and thinking about how the larger Pacific Rim has really been integral in forming culture in Southern California.”
She added, “A core tenant of PST since its founding has been, how do we reorient art history? How do we look at opportunities to shift the canon and think from a different perspective and more expansively?”
Among the historical moments that will likely figure into the research for PST ART exhibitions are “the arrival of Chinese porcelain in the Spanish missions, the dialogue between Los Angeles artists and their Asian counterparts after World War II, the deep connection between Japanese visual culture and modern architecture and design in Los Angeles, and the seismic influence of Korean popular culture today,” according to a release.
Electrical Products Corp. (artist unknown), Neon lighting concept for New Chinatown, ca. 1936.
Courtesy Federal Heath Sign Co., LLC. The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens
Ludwig further explained that transpacific dialogue has “cut through different industries, different historical moments” in Los Angeles and that the forthcoming iteration of PST ART is “a way to talk about cultural hybridity and exchange more broadly as it’s formed Southern California.”
In an email to ARTnews, Clara Kim, chief curator and director of curatorial affairs at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, said, “As someone who grew up in SoCal, my reality has always been living a diasporic existence—straddling and negotiating multiple languages, cultures, and customs. I am excited about how the theme for the next edition and the opportunity to cast our gaze across the Pacific, where new developments in art, culture, and institution making are brimming, will allow us to reflect on our own existence from a broad global view.”
“Art creates powerful entry points into shared histories and collective futures,” Ann Burroughs, president and CEO of the Japanese American National Museum (JANM), told ARTnews by email. The museum, located in the Little Tokyo neighborhood, focuses on historical displays about Japanese American incarceration during World War II, completed by a contemporary art program.
Burroughs continued, “Those stories are a warning against the history repeating itself today as immigrant communities in LA and across the US are once again being targeted. Art is one of the most effective ways to shine a light on racism and injustice, to create connections among people, and to inspire a more just future. By amplifying AAPI voices, I hope PST Art can play a role in that.”
J. T. SATA, #4 Shore, 1992.
Japanese American National Museu
PST ART (formerly known as Pacific Standard Time, a nod to Southern California’s time zone) has been among the most influential initiatives for widening the art historical canon, staking a claim for just how influential the LA art scene has been to contemporary art since the postwar era. Each edition has been funded by the Getty through grants for exhibition research, production, and catalogs, with nearly $50 million having been distributed to dozens of cultural organizations since its founding in 2002.
“The PST initiative has single handedly reshaped the institutional culture in Southern California,” Kim said. “It is the Getty Foundation’s commitment to art history, as well as the respect for time and resources needed to develop deep research and implement ambitious exhibitions through its generous grantmaking, and its ability to mobilize the entire city—from big institutions to smaller ones, that this initiative has brought a sense of collaboration, camaraderie and exchange to this sprawling, unruly city. The PST legacy lies in the incredible way that it brings institutions together toward a common cause.”
The first edition opened in 2011 and took the title “Art in L.A., 1945–1980” and included game-changing exhibitions like “Now Dig This! Art and Black Los Angeles 1960–1980” at the Hammer Museum and “Under the Big Black Sun: 1974–1981” at MOCA. The second edition in 2017 took the title “LA/LA” and similarly focused on cultural exchanges between LA and Latin America, while also highlighting the artistic contributions of LA’s Latinx and Chicanx artists. The most recent PST ART, in 2024, was titled “Art & Science Collide,” and looked at how art and science have both influenced each other, particularly within Southern California.
“We are very appreciative of the platform that the Getty gives. There is a lot of work that still needs to be done to celebrate diversity, to tell a more complete story of America and American art,” Burroughs said. “We are excited to partner with Getty to amplify our scholarship, provide access to our extraordinary collections and archives for exploration and new insights, and to break down the barriers that have impacted the telling of our shared histories. As pressure mounts from the federal government to erase diverse voices from museums, the arts, and national parks, PST ART is a powerful opportunity to instead amplify and celebrate these voices that strengthen Los Angeles.”
Paul Soldner, Vessel, late 1960s.
Photo © Museum Associates/LACMA
The research cycle for the 2030 edition begins immediately, with nonprofit cultural organizations located in any of Southern California’s eight counties being eligible to submit a “Letter of Inquiry” for funding by June 1, 2026. Institutions of any size are eligible, and they do not have to have previously participated in PST ART. The first cohort of grantees will be announced toward the end of 2026.
“We will be looking at institutions across Southern California that have very different purviews and bring unique perspectives to the table,” Ludwig said. “I think that’s what’s so exciting about PST—we don’t know who’s going to come forward with exciting proposals and what ideas we’re going to learn. It’s an opportunity to lean into the wide-ranging expertise that we have throughout the region.”
