Latin American and Latinx Art Initiative

The Latin American and Latinx Art History Initiative (LALAI) focuses on developing scholarly and institutional partnerships to strengthen networks in these fields. It aims to generate access to digitized archival materials at the GRI and partner institutions, foster the activation of collections through research, publications, and programming, and help diversify narratives about Latin American and Latinx art. Most importantly, LALAI will stimulate critical approaches that reveal these areas’ complexities, tensions, and ambiguities.

The planning phase will result in the following:

• A survey and report charting artistic archives in Latin America and the USA
• A survey of the Getty Research Institute’s Special Collections related to Latin American and Latinx art
• Oral histories on Latin American and Latinx artists and scholars working on those fields

In July 2022, the GRI launched a 3-year planning phase for LALAI, which builds on the experiences of Getty’s earlier Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA initiative. During the planning phase, LALAI will facilitate the development of an intellectual plan and long-term strategic goals, as well as identify partnerships with peer institutions devoted to Latin American or Latinx art.

The GRI’s strong holdings in Latin American materials are key in the development of the initiative, offering a foundation for research projects, digitization, partnerships, and new acquisitions. These activities center around three broad themes: Afro-Latino and Indigenous perspectives, overlooked regions and artistic traditions, and Latinx art in Los Angeles.

Sponsor
Mary E. Miller, Director, Getty Research Institute

Co-Leads
Idurre Alonso, Curator, Latin American Art Collections, Getty Research Institute
Zanna Gilbert, Senior Research Specialist, Getty Research Institute
Kim Richter, Senior Research Specialist, Getty Research Institute

Project Manager
Alicia Maria Houtrouw, Senior Project Manager, Getty Research Institute

Lead Consultant
Natalia Majluf, Independent Scholar

Executive Steering Committee
Idurre Alonso, Curator, Latin American Collections, Getty Research Institute
Zanna Gilbert, Senior Research Specialist, Getty Research Institute
Alicia Maria Houtrouw, Senior Project Manager, Getty Research Institute
Kristin Juarez, Senior Research Specialist, Getty Research Institute
Mary E. Miller, Director, Getty Research Institute
Kara Olidge, Associate Director of Collections and Discovery, Getty Research Institute
Andrew Perchuk, Deputy Director, Getty Research Institute
Kim Richter, Senior Research Specialist, Getty Research Institute
Kathleen Salomon, Associate Director & Chief Librarian, Getty Research Institute
Nancy Um, Associate Director of Research and Knowledge Creation, Getty Research Institute
Khristaan Villela, Associate Director of Dissemination and External Affairs, Getty Research Institute

Research
Jasmine Magaña, Research Specialist

Advisory Committee
Luisa Elena Alcalá Donegani, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Baltazar Brito Guadarrama, Biblioteca Nacional de Antropología e Historia
C. Ondine Chavoya, University of Texas at Austin
Irene Small, Princeton University