What's Next?

A little over a month has gone by since the layoffs were announced at work and my long goodbye to the place I've worked for the past five years began. There are still a lot of emotions stirring around in my head about my changed circumstances, but the storm has passed and I'm determined to make the most of this unexpected turn of events. Just how I'm going to do that is, in many ways, yet to be determined, but it is going to start with me using this time as an opportunity to take a leap of faith and try something I never thought I would--full-time motherhood.

Before marriage and motherhood, if you asked me if I'd ever consider being a full-time mom, I'd have said no. The thing is, I like to work, and most of my adult life has been devoted to finding a career identity for myself--not an easy task for someone with an advanced degree in ancient Near Eastern Languages and Cultures. And if I may say so, my progress wasn't too shabby. After earning my Master's at UCLA, I joined the staff at LACMA during the blockbuster King Tut exhibition, and my success there led to a recruitment call from the Education Department at the Getty Museum--a department with a nationwide reputation for excellence and a best-of-the-best staff. A foot in the door at the one of the preeminent cultural institutions in the country, I thought, meant I would be well-positioned to earn my stripes and advance my career at a steady pace. And what's more, for the second time since grad school, I was in a position in which I could directly apply my specialized knowledge of the ancient Mediterranean--again, not an easy thing to come by!

The position and the opportunity seemed ripe with potentiality. The bases were full. All I needed to do was deliver and send the pitch headed over home plate back over the wall. ...Uh, not quite. The economy tanked shortly after I was hired on at the Villa, and instead of the opportunity to advance, the Great Recession resulted in a stagnant wage and the elimination of career opportunities across the board, not just at my home institution. The Getty ultimately experienced two rounds of deep cuts to its staff, the second of which found me among those holding one of those infamous blue folders from HR containing a "letter of separation."

By the time I was handed that blue folder, I was already frustrated by the lack of room for advancement in a down job market. For a brief moment at the end of last year, I thought my willingness to take on duties and tasks beyond the scope of my position had finally paid off when I was reassigned as a coordinator for Teacher Programs. In the end, of course, the change never fully materialized. The new leadership of the museum froze the paperwork because they knew massive layoffs were coming to Education this spring. As frustrated as I already was, the layoffs this April were the final *head-desk* moment of despair and aggravation. As crappy as having a door slammed in your face is, the finality of it is freeing. You can't go this way. Move on.

So what's next? I've been asked that question a lot lately, and the more time passes, the more confidence I feel in my decision. I have the chance to explore an option I've been thinking about more and more over the past nineteen months and spend some time as a full-time mom. After this most recent lesson on the folly of making plans, that's about all I'm willing to say with any certainty at this point. For several years now I've been looking for the bigger and better career opportunity because I assumed a bigger and better salary (read: greater financial security) would ultimately serve my family best. But the lessons of the past nineteen months and especially recent events have served as a wake-up call that that assumption may not be true at this moment in time. All that has happened obviously got my attention in a big way and has made me rethink where I am most needed and how I can best serve my family right now, a time when professional opportunities are hardly blossoming beneath my feet. Reflecting on the last ten years, this experience has also reminded me that it's okay to follow my instincts--even when they are leading toward an uncertain and unknown path rather than a more certain, well-traveled one.

Sure, maybe we are wrong and will find that we can't quite get by on one income--that's part of the uncertainty. But even if that is the lesson we eventually learn from all of this, what I do know about this decision is that I'll never look back and regret choosing to spend more time with my son.

As uncertain as these times are, of that I have no doubt.

The Long Goodbye

Apologies for the lack of posts lately, but it's been a rough few weeks. As many of you already know, my teaching position at the Getty Villa was among those eliminated in the recent massive cuts to the Education Department at the Getty Museum. You can read more about the cuts here. My last day at work is in early September. Until then, I will continue to work and help train the volunteers who will replace my fellow educators and I this fall. Thus begins what I'm calling "the long goodbye." While there is something to be said for quick goodbyes, I plan to use my last bittersweet weeks here to savor what I've enjoyed most about working at the Villa. Although I will miss my co-workers dearly, I will also miss this beautiful place at which I've had the privilege to work these past five years.

I could offer my own comments on the Getty's decision to make such deep cuts to its education staff, but I can do no better than F. Robert Sabol, President of the National Art Education Association. He wrote an excellent letter to the Editor of the L.A. Times (a letter that--so far as I can tell--has yet to be published by the newspaper) expressing his dismay at the cuts, specifically the choice to replace professional educators with volunteers. Here is his letter, in its entirety:

May 7, 2012

TO:  Editor, L.A. Times

FROM:  F. Robert Sabol, President, National Art Education Association

RE:  Museum Education Cuts at J. Paul Getty Museum

For many decades, the J. Paul Getty Museum has played a leading role in promoting object-based learning through high-quality museum education programs and the professionalization of gallery teaching. The recent decision by President and CEO of the Getty Trust James Cuno to eliminate 19 positions in the Museum Education Department represents a significant step backward as well as a lack of understanding of the public value that museum educators provide.

Mr. Cuno's statement, "The stronger the collection one has, the better one can do everything else," is out of step with how the museum field and external environment are evolving. (The savings from the education cuts and staff reductions in other museum departments will make available $4.3 million for art acquisitions--a relatively small amount in today's art market.) Given today's competitive economic, cultural, educational, and leisure climate, many art museums are shifting from being solely "about something to being for somebody"--a concept first introduced by Stephen Weil, the late emeritus senior scholar at the Center of Museum Studies at the Smithsonian. While the collection and preservation of works of art are essential, for museums to remain viable in the future they must also demonstrate their value and relevance to their communities, which is precisely what museum educators are trained to do.

Art museum educators help students and adults see, experience, and understand works of art from a variety of time periods, cultures, and regions--and encourage lifelong learning in the arts. Through inquiry and dialogue, museum educators promote the development of creative and critical thinking skills and an appreciated of diverse cultures, ideas, and human experiences. To these important ends, numerous art museums employ professional gallery teaching staffs.

Many museums also rely on docents to lead tours and support the educational mission of the institution. Indeed, the thousands of men and women who volunteer their time provide an invaluable service for millions of visitors to American art museums each year.

However, professional museum educators possess extensive formal education, considerable professional training, and specialized knowledge; they are uniquely qualified to help the general public develop an understanding of the value of art and artists in society. They have a deep knowledge of individual works of art, artists, and art history as well as a solid grounding in education history, theory, and practice. Museum educators contribute important scholarship to the field and use that research to inform the daily work of museums. Indeed, Elliot Kai-Kee, Education Specialist in charge of gallery teaching at the Getty, recently authored with Rika Burnham, Head of Education at The Frick Collection, Teaching in the Art Museum: Interpretation as Experience, a pivotal book that The Art Newspaper calls, "Essential reading for anyone engaged in the interpretation of art."

When Mr. Cuno chose to assign the responsibility of gallery teaching to volunteers and mandated that such a program be up and running in a few short months, he undermined the Getty's educational mission and its longstanding commitment to visitor engagement and learning. It remains to be seen what vision emerges for the future of public education at the Getty. Works of art will always be central to the missions and purposes of museums, however, their continued relevance to individuals and contemporary society is dependent upon establishing meaningful connections with the people that view them, something that museum educators are uniquely trained to do.