Art History and the Present, a two-day workshop with the Clark Art Institute addressing what is lost or gained when works of art from the past are interpreted according to present standards and contemporary art according to past precedents.
(February 1–2, 2008)

Papers on China, a two-day symposium exploring questions of art and culture in early-modern Europe and Ming and Qing China.
(December 13–14, 2007)

A Conversation: Gore Vidal and Thomas Crow, a wide-ranging discussion between author Vidal and the director of the Getty Research Institute—captured on video—about contemporary politics and the continued relevance of antiquity.
(March 8, 2006)

Activity and Repose: Place, Memory, and Sociality in Chinese and Japanese Gardens, a two-day symposium focusing on how the garden in China and Japan Functions as a nexus of creative individual and social energy.
(December 3–4, 2004)

Structures and Systems: "An Intercontinental Art World," part two of a collaborative conference examining the radical transformations in art-making practice in the 1960s and 1970s.
(October 2, 2004)

Edmund Teske's Los Angeles, a program of film, spoken word performance, and discussion that illuminates the art of Edmund Teske and his participation in the cultural milieu of Los Angeles.
(June 23 & June 25, 2004)

Building Music, a collaborative series of lectures and performances to explore the relationship between music and architecture.
(May 21–June 13, 2004)

Structures and Systems: "Minimal Art in the United States," part one of a collaborative conference examining the radical transformations in art-making practice in the 1960s and 1970s.
(May 1, 2004)

Beauty and Truth for Sale: The Art of the Dealer, a two-day international conference focusing on the role of the dealer in the art market.
(March 29–30, 2004)

Mural Painting and Conservation in the Americas, a two–day symposium addressing the social, artistic, and political dimensions of murals, as well as issues of conservation.
(May 16–17, 2003)

Feel Like Going Home: Musicians in Print, on Film, and in Concert, a two–day program exploring biography as a mode for understanding art.
(May 9–10, 2003)

Modern Art in Los Angeles: The Late Forties, a conversation with leading figures of the postwar art world.
(February 6, 2003)

The Invention of Boucher, a lecture by Thomas Crow.
(January 24, 2003)

An Evening with Michael Apted, conversation with and selected clips of the director's work.
(November 15, 2002)

A Conversation with Jack Stauffacher, renowned printer, typographer, and founder of the Greenwood Press in San Francisco, in conversation with with award-winning type designer Matthew Carter.
(October 24, 2002)

Making Things, Moving Places: The Work of Artist Glen Seator, a one-day symposium addressing a full decade of the late artist's work realized in the United States and Europe.
(September 28, 2002)

Art Matters, a series of conversations with artists and other arts professionals about their work and the changing contemporary arts landscape.
(December 2000–June 2002)

Harry Smith's Film #18, Mahagonny, a newly preserved four-projector film work, in conjunction with a one-day symposium.
(May 30–31, 2002)

Artists' Last Thoughts, a panel and open discussion on artists' reflections at the end of their careers.
(May 28, 2002)

Visions and Bound-ries, three American poets read specially commissioned poems.
(April 26, 2002)

Building Walt Disney Concert Hall, a panel discussion focusing on the design and building processes of the Walt Disney Concert Hall.
(April 20, 2002)

The Gaze: Looking as It Appears in Pictures, a public lecture by Jonathan Miller in conjunction with the invitational symposium Frames of Viewing: The Brain, Cognition, and Art.
(April 3, 2002)

Seeing Rothko, symposium on the act of seeing and the conditions under which Mark Rothko's work would face its audience.
(February 28, 2002)

Self Portrait of an Other, readings by writer Cees Nooteboom with music performed by pianist Sarah Rothenberg
(March 13, 2002)

Heroes Leave Their Shores: Exile, Loss, and the Dynamics of Artistic Creation, a cosponsored symposium and related events.
(December 8, 2001)

The Art of David Tudor, a collaborative symposium and digital resource.
(May 17–19, 2001)

Harry Smith: The Avant-Garde in the American Vernacular, a multimedia conference and performance with a special Web site.
(April 20–21, 2001)

The Research and Education Department of the Getty Research Institute has conducted "Local and Comparative" projects in collaboration with community arts organizations and other institutions in Los Angeles:
LA as Subject: The Transformative Culture of Los Angeles Communities
Participation Project: Artists, Communities, and Cultural Citizenship
Local Libraries / Local Knowledge