The J. Paul Getty Trust awarded its annual Getty Prize to Ann Philbin, who served as director of the Hammer Museum at UCLA for 25 years. A celebratory dinner was held at the Getty Center in Los Angeles, attended by artists, philanthropists, and museum directors. Philbin used the prize's $500,000 grant to support NPR, KCRW, and LAist, emphasizing the importance of free speech and public broadcasting.
This award matters because it recognizes Philbin's transformative leadership at the Hammer Museum, where she championed free, accessible programming and launched initiatives like Hammer Projects that elevated emerging artists. The choice to direct the grant to public media underscores the art world's growing concern over threats to freedom of speech and the press, linking cultural institutions to broader societal issues.