Youth Programs at the Getty


Statement of Intent


Youth programs at the Getty Museum strive to celebrate the perspectives, voices, ideas, and experiences of young people, and to inspire them to actively contribute as creative thinkers. Through a spectrum of project-based, visual arts programming we work in community and in collaboration with one another. Our mission is to create spaces and programs for youth representation by committing to work and learn with BIPOC audiences who are underrepresented by and within arts institutions.

We do this by:

  • Honoring the value and importance of art and interpretations made by young people/teens
  • Addressing historical and contemporary occurrences of institutional exclusion by committing to seek opportunities for intentional inclusion
  • Engaging with neighborhoods across Los Angeles with a particular focus on those that have been identified as having little to no arts programming
  • Building connections with artists and arts professionals who activate the museum and its collections, from antiquity to contemporary art
  • Applying a critical and analytical lens to the collection, to explore all that it is and all that it isn't
  • Being responsive to potential barriers to participation by providing transportation, meals, and paid opportunities to ensure that young people who are interested can participate


About Our Programs

Getty Unshuttered



Unshuttered is many things. First and foremost, it is a photography-based initiative that provides a platform for learning, sharing, and other opportunities for teens, young people, and teachers across the country. Since its inception, Unshuttered has offered:

  • An intensive photography program for LA-based teens
  • A free app for sharing photographs
  • A nationwide contest for original photographs from young artists
  • Lesson plans and resources for high school educators
  • Exhibitions of student work at the Getty Museum and online

Discover the artworks from the 2018 and 2019 Unshuttered Photography Intensives in a virtual gallery here.

Stay connected and follow us on Instagram @GettyUnshuttered.

Download the Getty Unshuttered app and join our community.

Unshuttered Artists Unshuttered Teaching Artist: SHAN Wallace and Unshuttered artist: Adam C. (left to right)


Teen Gallery Guides @ the Getty Center (formerly Student Gallery Guides)


Teen Gallery Guides at the Getty Center is a paid summer internship opportunity for teens interested in art, working in community with teen peers, building public speaking skills, and engaging with art professionals and museum spaces in unique ways. Over the summer, interns will learn strategies for understanding and discussing artwork, audience engagement techniques, and teaching strategies to lead gallery experiences and activities for school-aged visiting groups. Transportation to and from the Getty Center is provided to each intern, as well as a stipend.

The application period for the 2023 Teen Gallery Guides @ the Getty Center internship closed in March 2023. Next year's application will open in Spring 2024.

Questions? Please email us at gettyteens@getty.edu

Student Gallery Guide: Androgony J. Teen Gallery Guide @ the Getty Center Intern: Androgony J. (left)


Teen Gallery Guides @ the Getty Villa


Teen Gallery Guides at the Getty Villa is a paid summer internship for Boyle Heights teens who are interested in exploring the connections between art and science, working in community with teen peers, building public speaking skills, and engaging with art professionals and museum spaces in unique ways. Interns will focus on ancient art, archaeology, art conservation, and scientific processes while learning strategies for understanding objects in the Getty Villa's collection of ancient Greek and Roman art. Over the summer, interns will be introduced to methods of research, audience engagement techniques, and gallery teaching strategies to research, develop, and lead STEAM-focused interactive gallery experiences for school-aged visitors. Transportation to and from the Getty Villa is provided to each intern, as well as a stipend.

Teen Lab Interns Teen Gallery Guide @ the Getty Villa Interns: Hector R. and Jocelyn V. (left to right)


Latin Academy (Academia Aestiva)


The Summer Latin Academy (Academia Aestiva) at the Getty Villa offers high school students who have taken at least the equivalent of a full year of high-school Latin an opportunity to immerse themselves in the language and culture of the ancient Romans. This week-long day program (Mon. - Fri., 9:00 am - 3:00 pm) combines classroom instruction in spoken Latin in the morning with activity-based exploration of the Getty Villa site and antiquities collection in the afternoon. Led by local teachers affiliated with the North American Institute for Living Latin Studies (SALVI) in collaboration with Getty Villa educators and curators, the program offers a chance to discover the benefits of spoken Latin in the unique environment of a museum modeled on an ancient Roman luxury villa.

The theme of the 2023 Academia Aestiva, held the week of June 26, is Good and Bad Roman Emperors. We are inspired by the Villa's special exhibition this summer of a life-sized gold bust of the emperor Marcus Aurelius, the last of the so-called "Five Good Emperors." His son Commodus, famous for ending the "good" series in a bad way, is also represented by a marble bust in our collection. The week at the Villa will end with a trip to the Getty Center on Friday to view (and try to read) Medieval Latin texts in the Manuscripts Department about power, justice, and tyranny in the Middle Ages. We will also visit our last "bad" emperor, Caracalla, in the Neoclassical gallery.

Latin Academy applications are now closed. We will post our new theme and dates for 2024 on Friday, Feb. 16. For questions, email Shelby Brown at sbrown@getty.edu.



Latin Academy Students Students reenact the high-status couch positions at a Roman dinner party.