Oral History Center, The Bancroft Library, University of California Berkeley Oral History Center University of California The Bancroft Library Berkeley, California Sally Hibbard Sally Hibbard: Forty Years of Change at the J. Paul Getty Museum Interviews conducted by Amanda Tewes in 2018 Interviews sponsored by the J. Paul Getty Trust Copyright © 2019 by J. Paul Getty Trust Oral History Center, The Bancroft Library, University of California Berkeley ii Since 1954 the Oral History Center of the Bancroft Library, formerly the Regional Oral History Office, has been interviewing leading participants in or well-placed witnesses to major events in the development of Northern California, the West, and the nation. Oral History is a method of collecting historical information through tape-recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well-informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. The tape recording is transcribed, lightly edited for continuity and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewee. The corrected manuscript is bound with photographs and illustrative materials and placed in The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, and in other research collections for scholarly use. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account, offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is reflective, partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. ********************************* Copyright in the manuscript and recording is owned by the J. Paul Getty Trust, which has made the materials available under Creative Commons licenses as follows: Manuscript is licensed under CC-BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and recording is licensed under CC-BY-NC (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: Sally Hibbard, “Sally Hibbard: Forty Years of Change at the J. Paul Getty Museum,” conducted by Amanda Tewes in 2018, Oral History Center, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, under the auspices of the J. Paul Getty Trust, 2019. Oral History Center, The Bancroft Library, University of California Berkeley iii Sally Hibbard at the Getty Villa, 2006 Oral History Center, The Bancroft Library, University of California Berkeley iv Sally Hibbard is the former chief registrar at the J. Paul Getty Museum. She grew up in San Diego, California, and studied art history at Occidental College in the 1960s and 1970s. Hibbard joined the Getty Museum in 1974 as the secretary to the curator of decorative arts, Gillian Wilson. She became the registrar at the Getty Museum in 1975, leading the Registrar’s Department until her retirement in 2014. In this interview, Hibbard discusses her early life and education; joining the staff of the Getty Museum; becoming registrar at the Getty Museum, including duties, on-the-job training, and the impact of the death of J. Paul Getty; building the Registrar’s Department, including developing collections management, rights and reproductions, and exhibitions teams; major exhibitions, including coordinating loans and couriers; participating in the development of emergency plans for the Getty and its collections; work-life balance at the Getty; digitizing registration records; creating organization-wide policies and procedures; coordinating the transfer of collections from the Getty Villa to the Getty Center in the mid-1990s; controversies regarding antiquities; contributing to the field of museum registration, including mentoring graduate students, attending and presenting at conferences, and teaching museum studies courses at University of Southern California and California State University Fullerton; and changes at the Getty, including finances, quality of collections, size of staff, sites of operation, and leadership. Oral History Center, The Bancroft Library, University of California Berkeley v Table of Contents — Sally Hibbard Interview 1: August 1, 2018 Hour 1 1 Born in Glendale, California, in 1950 — Growing up on an avocado ranch in San Diego County — Moving to La Jolla — Introduction of the University of California San Diego and its effect on the community — Parents’ and grandparents’ backgrounds — Developing an interest in art history — Attending Occidental College — Art history coursework in the late sixties — Meeting artist Larry Bell — Women in the art history field — Attending the University of the Americas in Mexico City during the summer of 1968 — Political protests of the 1960s — Meeting and marrying her first husband — Briefly living in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, in 1973 — Starting work at the Getty Trust in the fall of 1974 — Duties as secretary to the decorative arts curator, Gillian Wilson — Parking at the Getty Villa — Working closely with director Stephen Garrett — Challenges the Museum faced in 1974, including budget and oversight Hour 2 19 Becoming registrar at the Getty Museum in 1975 — Learning the position on the job — Communicating with registrars at other museums — Federal indemnity for exhibitions — Duties overseeing museum volunteer program and performance reviews — Impact of J. Paul Getty’s death on the Museum — Overseeing art shipments from Getty’s home in England — Policies and procedures at the Getty — Working with the board of trustees after Getty’s death — The Acquisitions Committee at the Getty — Notable acquisitions — Art auctions — The Getty’s relationship with the rest of the art world — Jiří Frel and antiquities at the Getty Hour 3 33 Jiří Frel and antiquities at the Getty Interview 2: August 1, 2018 Hour 1 35 Marrying second husband in 1982 — Having children — Maternity and paternity leave policies at the Getty — The Getty’s approach to work-life balance — Changes within the Registrar’s Department — Converting Registrar’s Department to digital files in the 1980s — Keeping up with continually changing technologies — The development of the collections management team in the Registrar’s Department — Impact of 9/11 on the Getty — Rights and reproductions team in the Registrar’s Department — Exhibitions team in the Registrar’s Department — Coordination of major loans for exhibitions — Interactions between departments at the Getty Oral History Center, The Bancroft Library, University of California Berkeley vi Hour 2 49 Coordinating with exhibitions lenders and couriers — Holy Image, Hallowed Ground: Icons of Sinai exhibit in 2006 and working with the Egyptian government — Aztec Pantheon and the Art of Empire exhibit in 2010 — Working on the first iteration of Pacific Standard Time exhibit in 2011 — Coordinating other major exhibitions — Expanding the Registrar’s Department starting in the 1980s — Building an administrative budget for the Registrar’s Department — Developing policies and procedures for the Registrar’s Department — Resources for learning the management and legal policies of museums — Effect of the Northridge earthquake on the Getty — Developing emergency plans for the Getty Hour 3 64 Courier trips — Notable transport of mosaics from Tunisia — Traveling with a corner cabinet to and from England — Opening the Getty Center in 1997 — Dividing the Registrar’s Department based on location — Coordinating the transfer of collections from the Getty Villa to the Getty Center Interview 3: August 2, 2018 Hour 1 74 Teaching a museum studies course at University of Southern California from 1981 to 1983 — Extending the course to California State University Fullerton in 1982 — Graduate internship program at the Getty — Attending and presenting at conferences — Hosting the 1998 meeting for the Southern California members of Registrars Committee of the Western Region [RC-WR] — How the facilities of the Getty Center have held up after twenty years — American Alliance of Museums code of courier practice — 1994 publication in Registrations Quarterly about marking objects — Impact of construction at the Getty Villa on the Registrar’s Department — Impact of financial challenges on the Registrar’s Department — Italian lawsuit against the Getty regarding antiquities — Relationship with Marion True — How the lawsuit impacted antiquities collection policies at the Getty Hour 2 90 How the lawsuit and trial affected the Registrar’s Department — Being personally deposed during the lawsuit — The significance of the Fleischman donation and purchase — Changes at the Getty, including quality of collections, size of staff, and sites of operation — Barry Munitz’s leadership at the Getty — Leaks to the Los Angeles Times under Munitz’s leadership — Changes in Getty leadership over the years, including John Walsh, David Bomford, Thomas Kren, and Deborah Gribbon — Retirement in 2014 — Changes in the field of registration — The Getty’s role in fostering connections and innovation in the field of museum work — Reflections on working for the Getty — Vision for the future of the Getty and the Registrar’s Department — Next steps in personal life — Daughter’s career in the museum field — Professional legacy Oral History Center, The Bancroft Library, University of California Berkeley 1 Interview 1: August 1, 2018 Tewes: This is an interview with Sally Hibbard for the Getty Trust Oral History Project, in association with the Oral History Center at UC Berkeley. The interview is being conducted by Amanda Tewes at Ms. Hibbard’s home in Santa Monica, California, on August 1, 2018. So thank you very