Begun in 2000, Art Matters was a series of conversations with artists and other arts professionals about their work and the changing contemporary arts landscape. Organized by the Getty Research Institute, the series was hosted by Getty Visiting Lecturer Barbara Isenberg, who has been writing about the arts for the Los Angeles Times since 1976. She is the author of State of the Arts: California Artists Talk about Their Work.

Art Matters brought arts people and topics together in a public forum. Guests included artists Billy Al Bengston, Judy Chicago, Alexis Smith, and Michael Light, as well as art dealer Irving Blum, author and critic Peter Plagens, and architect Richard Thompson. In June 2002 the series culminated in a panel discussion with film critics Richard Corliss from Time magazine, Ella Taylor from the L.A. Weekly, and Kenneth Turan from the Los Angeles Times.