A YEAR OF CHANGE; NOT WITHOUT TURMOIL, GETTY REACHES OUT TO EDUCATE, ENLIGHTEN.

Byline: Reed Johnson Daily News Staff Writer

Ask Barry Munitz about his leadership style, and he'll slyly insist, ``I'm a pussycat.''

Few who know the president and CEO of the J. Paul Getty Trust would likely share that assessment.

In a career that has spanned academia, big business and six years as chancellor of the California State University system, Munitz has acquired a reputation as a smart, tough-minded negotiator whose behind-the-scenes diplomacy is matched by his steely resolve.

Indeed, Munitz, 57, has described himself as ``a political animal in the most profound and intense sense, not just a partisan political sense.'' That helps explain why California Gov.-elect Gray Davis recently tapped Munitz to head his transition team in Sacramento.

Whatever sort of animal he may be, Munitz appears well on his way toward transforming the Getty Center - the 800-ton leviathan of the art world - into a different sort of beast: Less insular and self-sufficient than in years past, more corporate-minded and competitive, and as consumed with teaching the public about art as it once was obsessed with acquiring priceless objets.

One year ago, the Getty Center unveiled its new $1 billion Brentwood headquarters amid a flurry of international press coverage, a flood of traffic along Sepulveda Boulevard - and a paucity of public toilets. (The Getty plans to add more facilities next year.)

By January 1999, officials estimate, some 1.9 million visitors will have flocked to the Getty's travertine marble campus to inspect its Old Master paintings, world-class photography collections and IMAX-caliber views of the San Gabriel Mountains, the L.A. basin and the Pacific Ocean.

That's roughly one-third more than the 1.2 million originally projected. The average Getty visitor stays 4-1/2 hours, a virtually unheard-of length for a museum.

Slowly, as the crowds have tapered off and phone parking-reservation waiting times have dwindled to an average of five minutes, Munitz's administration has begun to take shape, succeeding that of his more understated, avuncular predecessor, Harold Williams.

And, as often happens under a new regime, there have been a few casualties.

Since Munitz took over last January, three of the five directors of the Getty's arts-related institutes have resigned. One Getty affiliate, the Information Institute, will formally cease to exist by June.

These swift changes have raised concerns both inside and outside the Getty.

``It's kind of like (baseball manager) Kevin Malone with the Dodgers,'' observed Bill Lasarow, publisher of Art Scene, a monthly digest of the visual arts in Southern California.

``It's still too early to tell whether all the trades and the cutbacks and the add-ons are going to add up to a better operation or is going to take away from what Mr. Williams built up. You sort of have a situation where the Getty won the World Series last year. You almost wonder why they'd be toying around with this.''

In an interview last week, Munitz said he regarded some high-level staff turnover as ``inevitable.''

He was hired by the Getty's board, he said, not to sit on a $4.7 billion endowment but to analyze how the Getty's various programs - previously spread throughout several buildings - could be better integrated now that they have a common address.

Munitz concedes that agenda has created some stress and uncertainty, as well as opportunities.

``To some, it's very exciting and fulfilling. To some, it's scary. To some, it's distressing,'' he said.

``Does it make me happy to pick up the paper ... and see the headline (about a staff member's departure)? Of course not. ... My assignment is to look forward. We have to recognize now we're open, we're very public. I mean, we have a bunch of people who haven't worked in big, public programs before. And my assignment is to put a leadership team together for the board that's collaborative, that's public-oriented, that focuses on advocacy and policy and education. And I'm just going to have to do it as patiently, but as firmly, as I can.''

With the Getty's 1,200 employees sharing space with 36,000 visitors every week, Munitz said his priority is to make the Getty operate more publicly than before and to forge partnerships with corporations and other museums, both in and outside Los Angeles.

To that end, the Getty is cooperating with the Huntington Library, on an upcoming show about how different portraitists depicted the famous 18th-century British actress Sarah Siddons.

The Getty also agreed to offer an exhibition on Sigmund Freud, organized by one of its own curators, to the nearby Skirball Cultural Center, with the Getty picking up the $300,000 tab.

Some local arts officials say the Getty has brought not only cash to L.A., in the form of cultural tourism, but cachet.

``There are many groups that have been coming through town that probably would not be coming had it not been for the Getty,'' said Henry Hopkins, former director of the UCLA Armand Hammer Museum of Art and Cultural Center.

Art for art's sake no longer defines the Getty's central mission, if it ever did. Munitz has sought to give education an institution-wide focus by recruiting Ted Mitchell, former dean of the Graduate School of Education at UCLA, to serve in the just-minted post of vice president for education and special initiatives.

New acquisitions, besides fleshing out the collections' art-historical continuum, also will be evaluated by what they can teach about a particular genre or period.

``We now have to be more selective,'' said Deborah Gribbon, deputy director of the Getty Museum. ``In terms of paintings, in particular, we are trying to go for the best examples of the best artists in the best condition. And when you've done that, a priori, you have an object that can be a platform for many different kinds of programs.''

Munitz and his board also have considered the idea of instituting a membership program for a small group of upper-level donors.

``We're in very good shape financially,'' Munitz said. ``But for me, that just continues to make the point that you can't run a place of this complexity on one source of revenue.''

You begin to grasp the Getty's changing personality when you ride its trestled tram car with a load of energetic high school students.

From 9 to 11 a.m. every weekday but Monday, schoolchildren and their teachers are the only visitors admitted to the Getty, giving them a chance to study objects closely, work at making art with Getty instructors, and delve into themed, interdisciplinary study programs designed by their teachers with support from Getty staff.

``It's a really good program, because I was here, like, three times with my family, and I was bored after an hour. Now it's a lot more interesting,'' said Jocelyn Landgraf, a sophomore at Louisville High School in Woodland Hills, during a recent trip with her class.

By year's end, Getty staff estimates, 25,000 students will have visited the center and taken part in its arts education programs, including a contingent of 700 from Cleveland High School in Reseda.

Diane Brigham, who runs the Getty's education department, at first wasn't sure how her colleagues would react to the daily presence of hundreds of adolescents, far more than the Getty Villa in Malibu could accommodate.

But she says the reaction has been positive. Some staff members say the crowds have energized and humanized Richard Meier's abstract architectural collage of angles and arcs.

``Having thousands of people up here all the time makes me feel more connected to the city than I would've thought. I really was afraid about moving up here and being isolated,'' said Michael S. Roth, associate director of the Research Institute, the Getty's art think tank, and head of its Scholars and Seminars Program.

Once referred to by a Getty official as a ``secular monastery,'' the Research Institute offers several examples of how the Getty is attempting to make the public feel like guests rather than intruders.

Recently, it liberalized its policy on admitting readers to its research library stacks. Now, anyone with a simple college ID can gain access to a substantial part of the library's collection of 700,000 volumes of books, serials and auction catalogs.

Also, for the first time, the institute is using an open nomination and application process for its senior visiting research scholars, who previously were selected by committee.

Roth sees these changes as part of an ongoing effort to ``demystify'' Getty scholarship and make it as transparent as the institute's glass shell.

Of equal significance, Roth said, the new ``Friday Nights at the Getty'' performance series has attracted a more diverse crowd than typically came to Malibu.

Yet many visitors hail from the same college-educated, upwardly mobile demographic as before.

``One of my friends came here for a visit, and when he got off the tram he said, `My God, I wasn't wearing black! I didn't think they'd let me on!' '' Roth said.

Yet the Getty is taking steps to attract new adult constituencies. When the Research Institute hosted a lecture this year by a group of African-American photographers, Roth said, it rented buses to bring people without transportation to the Getty.

Senior officials concede that the Getty stills needs to be made more user-friendly, with less concern for quiet good taste and more signage telling people where to find the restrooms or Van Gogh's ``Irises.''

A sheltered canopy and benches have been provided for walk-in visitors waiting in line. A taxi dispatcher works the main parking structure. Future plans call for adding a taco bar and a children's menu to the Getty's culinary offerings.

Meanwhile, the Getty has turned down numerous requests to use its site for weddings, bar mitzvahs, film productions, corporate planning sessions and fund-raisers, which are closely restricted by the facility's conditional-use permit.

``Basically, we've said yes only to those things that are directly tied to Getty activities,'' Munitz said.

As the Getty enters the new millennium, its mission will continue to be defined by a tension between the scholarly and the public, elitism and accessibility.

Not coincidentally, those themes probably will figure in this week's four-day Governor's Conference on the Arts at L.A.'s Hotel Inter-Continental. Titled ``Beyond the Millennium: Redefining the Arts for the 21st Century'' and co-sponsored by the Getty Trust, the conference will wrap up with a Thursday afternoon bus trip to the Getty, where Munitz will deliver welcoming remarks.

With delegations from academia, government, Silicon Valley and the worlds of art, entertainment and philanthropy, the conference symbolizes a crossroads of power and culture where the Getty now sits.

``I think we're very pleased to see the appointment of Dr. Munitz overseeing the transition (at the Getty),'' said Barbara Pieper, director of the California Arts Council, another conference co-sponsor. ``I think that's a signal of a confluence of education, creativity and industry issues that are coming together in what I would call the New California.''

Munitz may be no pussycat. But neither is he a bull in a china shop. It remains to be seen how the New Getty - let alone the ``New California'' - will respond.

CENTER PROGRAMS FOCUS ON SCHOOLS

For years, the entire world has been their oyster.

Now it looks as if the Getty's educational strategists may be casting their nets in less-far-flung waters.

Stephen D. Rountree, executive vice president of the J. Paul Getty Trust, said that, in the future, the Getty plans to concentrate its educational development and outreach programs in the Southern California area.

While the Getty Trust, Museum and arts-related institutes will continue to maintain a national and international focus, Rountree said the Getty would be playing a more active role in shaping local and state educational policy.

``I think you're definitely going to see an engagement of the Getty with issues of school reform, and the importance of education in the arts and humanities, and a greater concentration on Los Angeles and the Southern California region, trying to use our resources closer to home,'' he said.

During the fall campaign, Gov.-elect Gray Davis identified education as his top priority. Davis' first cabinet-level appointment, whom he named last Monday, is former state Sen. Gary K. Hart as education secretary.

Barry Munitz, president and CEO of the Getty Trust, is leading Davis' transition team. Hart previously worked with Munitz as co-director of the California State University Institute for Education Reform while Munitz was chancellor of the Cal State system.

``I believe we're going to see us focus a lot more on our back yard and trying to develop initiatives in Southern California, because we think every opportunity and every problem exists here,'' Rountree said.

WHAT'S HAPPENING AT THE GETTY CENTER

New exhibitions:

``Two Centuries of Drawings From Bologna'' features more than 30 drawings from 1500 to 1700 Bolognese draftsmanship. Dec. 15-Feb. 28.

``Vincent's Irises'' exhibit features ``Irises'' from the National Gallery of Canada and ``Self-Portrait Dedicated to Paul Gaugin'' from Harvard University Art Museums, illuminating Van Gogh's Iris painting. Jan. 19-March 21.

``Edgar Degas'' exhibit features 40 rare negatives and photographs. The ``Dance in Photography'' exhibition includes images of chorus-line routines, strippers, the Ballet Russes and American Indian ritual. Feb. 2-March 28.

``Faces of Power and Piety: Portraits in Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts'' will feature 23 illuminated manuscripts from the Middle Ages to the early Renaissance. Feb. 2-April 18.

Continuing exhibitions:

``A Practical Dreamer - The Photographs of Man Ray,'' which surveys his work spanning 1916 to the 1950s. Through Jan. 17.

``Flemish Manuscript Illumination of the Late Middle Ages'' highlights remarkable European painters of the 1400s and 1500s. Through Jan. 17.

``The Making of a Medieval Book'' shows how painted books in the Middle Ages and Renaissance were made. Through May 30.

Events:

A free screening of the 90-minute documentary ``Concert of Wills'' on the making of the Getty Center. Jan. 15.

``Gordon Getty Concert Series'' kicks off the 1999 concert season with ``J'ay pris amours: Music From the Court of Burgundy.'' 2 p.m. Jan. 9.

CAPTION(S):

9 Photos, 3 Boxes, Map

Photo: (1--Cover--Color) A WORK IN PROGRESS

After a year, the Getty is still finding its way

(2--Color) The attendance at the pristine new Getty Museum, with its vistas of Los Angeles and collections of Old Master paintings, is approaching 1.9 million in its first year.

(3--Color) Visitors walks among the statues in the North Pavilion at the center, where the average visit is an unusually long 4-1/2 hours.

(4--Color) The winding gardens offer solitude and a place to relax away from the galleries.

(5--Color) Barry Munitz

Leads the transformation

(6--Color) In the Family Room, students from Portola Middle School in Tarzana wear costumes from period paintings in the galleries.

(7) The crowds have thinned and the wait for parking reservations is down to five minutes.

(8) Thuha Tran of Los Amigos High School in Orange County works on a sculpture during a student visit.

(9) Once referred to as a ``secular monastery,'' the Getty's library now makes its books, serials and auction catalogs available to college students doing research.

David R. Crane/Daily News

Box: (1) Center programs focus on schools (See text)

(2) WHAT'S HAPPENING AT THE GETTY CENTER (See text)

(3) GETTING THERE

Map: Getty Center