On March 15, 2027, the Getty Center closes to the public for about a year, with reopening planned for spring 2028. Getty announced the date in April, so it has been on Brentwood calendars for months. The galleries don't follow that single date, though. Part of the museum has already closed, while new exhibitions are still opening this winter. Four exhibitions run through Sunday, March 14, the last day before the doors close, and two of them haven't opened yet.
The museum at the top of the hill is getting smaller and fuller at once, and that should shape when you go.
The building is already smaller than it was in spring
Getty's first phase of work has started. The North Pavilion, the South Pavilion and the plaza-level galleries of the East Pavilion are all closed for renovation. The project replaces 80 air-handling units across every pavilion with more efficient electric systems. Getty says the closures also make room to clean and repaint galleries, build new restrooms, and improve signs and wayfinding.
If you know the campus by its permanent collection, you'll notice the difference. Galleries you may have walked through on an ordinary Sunday are off the route now. The temporary exhibitions are still going. The Making of a Medieval Manuscript is on the lower level of the West Pavilion, and it runs through March 14.
So the Getty you can visit this winter is mostly its exhibition program. That program is set up to peak near the end.
What leaves first
The schedule has a clear order. Here is every Getty Center exhibition currently listed, with its closing date:
| Exhibition | Closes |
|---|---|
| Charles Ross: Spectrum 14 | November 29, 2026 |
| Every Minute Is History: Five Views of Los Angeles | January 3, 2027 |
| Instante/revelación: Moments in Mexican Photography | January 3, 2027 |
| The Holy Family at Home | January 10, 2027 |
| Reggie Burrows Hodges: A Theater of Passions | February 28, 2027 |
| The Making of a Medieval Manuscript | March 14, 2027 |
| Joshua Reynolds's Portrait of Mai and 18th-Century Portraiture | March 14, 2027 |
| A Light in the Dark: Joseph Wright of Derby | March 14, 2027 |
| Paul R. Williams: Architecture Across the Color Line | March 14, 2027 |
Spectrum 14 is the first to go. It's been on view since September 2024, so it has been part of the Getty for more than two years. It closes at the end of this month. Next, the two photography shows close on the first Sunday of the new year, and The Holy Family at Home follows a week later.
At the other end of the table, four shows are booked to stay until the museum closes.
Four exhibitions run to the last day
Portrait of Mai opened September 15. Getty named the installation in its closure announcement as one of the anchors of the final season.
A Light in the Dark: Joseph Wright of Derby opens November 24. In the 18th century Wright moved from formal portraits to scenes lit by a single candle or oil lamp, known as "candlelights." Brentwood News reported that X-ray fluorescence mapping found silver leaf under his paint layers. He used it to copy the way light passes through fabric, wax, paper and inflated bladders, and he's the only known 18th-century British artist to use the technique. The show reunites the Getty's "Two Boys with a Bladder," acquired in 2020, with its companion, "Two Girls Dressing a Kitten by Candlelight." The two paintings haven't hung together since 1772. Wright's "Self-Portrait" is coming from the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, and it has never been shown in the United States before. Curator Julia Siemon will give two free gallery talks, an overview on December 6 and a talk with museum conservators on March 12 about the silver-leaf findings. Details are on Getty's exhibition page.
Paul R. Williams: Architecture Across the Color Line opens December 15 in the Research Institute Galleries. Williams was the first Black architect licensed in the western United States, and this exhibition is the first public showing of his archive. It's part of a three-museum series, with companion shows at LACMA and the USC Fisher Museum of Art. Williams designed buildings all over Los Angeles, so his drawings may show you streets you already know from a new angle.
The Making of a Medieval Manuscript covers the four stages of making a book by hand: preparing parchment, writing, painting and binding. The labels are in English and Spanish.
The three weeks when nearly everything overlaps
Put the closing dates side by side and you get a clear peak. From Tuesday, December 15, when the Williams show opens, through Sunday, January 3, when the photography shows close, eight exhibitions are open at once. That's the four March shows plus Reggie Burrows Hodges, The Holy Family at Home and both photography exhibitions. Only Spectrum 14 will already be gone.
Those three weeks line up with the holidays, when you're likely to have visitors in town. If you have one Getty trip to plan for out-of-town guests this season, that window gets them the most for a single drive up the hill.
The calendar thins out after January 10. From March 1 through the end, it's down to the four shows that run to the final day.
How the visit works this winter
Admission is free, but you need a timed-entry reservation. You can book online or by phone, up to six weeks in advance. By that count, reservations for the last open day, March 14, become available around January 31.
The Center is open Tuesday through Friday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. It's closed Mondays. Parking is $25 per car or motorcycle, $15 after 3 p.m. and $10 after 6 p.m. On Saturdays, parking after 6 p.m. is free.
If you live minutes from the Sepulveda entrance, the price drop matters more than it does for someone driving across town. Here are three ways to plan around it:
- Saturday evenings. Arrive after 6 p.m. and you get three hours in the galleries with free parking. The last Saturday before the closure is March 13.
- Weekday afternoons. After 3 p.m., parking drops to $15 and you still have three and a half hours before the 6:30 closing.
- The final Sunday. March 14 runs on regular Sunday hours, 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., so the Center's last open day ends at 6:30 p.m.
Getty's hours and parking rates can change, so check the visit page before you go.
Where the Getty goes for a year
The Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades will stay open with its usual exhibitions, public programs and events throughout the Center's closure. It will also add a gallery of paintings from the Center's collection, so some familiar works will be a short drive down the coast. Getty is also planning a new programming space in a building it is renovating on Sepulveda Boulevard, across from the Center. That venue will host special programs during the closure and stay in use as a program space after the Center reopens.
When the Center reopens in spring 2028, it will have redesigned galleries, a renovated Welcome Hall with a new café, bookstore and shop, an updated main dining café, upgrades to the tram system, and better cell and Wi-Fi coverage across the campus. Katherine E. Fleming, president and CEO of the J. Paul Getty Trust, said in Getty's announcement that the institution looks forward "to welcoming visitors back in spring 2028, in time to celebrate the Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles."
Until then, Wright of Derby opens in less than two weeks, the Williams show opens December 15, and the Center's last open day is Sunday, March 14.
A year without the Getty Center will change how Brentwood spends its weekends, and in spring 2028 the reopening will bring a new set of reasons to visit. At The Kohl Team, we track changes like these closely because they affect daily life near home. If you're thinking about how your Brentwood home fits into the next few years, start with a Complimentary Home Valuation.