The J. Paul Getty Trust announced Thursday a $12 million gift from the Camilla Chandler Family Foundation to support a free bus service for low-income and similarly eligible schools for field trips to both the Getty Center and the Getty Villa.
The gift is the largest financial contribution Getty has received since J. Paul Getty's original bequest, according to the trust.
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"We are thrilled to introduce the Mia Chandler Endowment for School Visits and to carry on Mia's legacy of championing arts and education," Katherine E. Fleming, president and chief executive of the J. Paul Getty Trust, said in a statement.
"Education and access are at the heart of Getty's mission. This transformational gift will greatly deepen and amplify the work of our education department as we continue to find innovative ways to provide the lifelong inspiration of art to young people across Southern California and beyond."
Chandler played a leading role in the Los Angeles arts community, and built on the Chandler family's influence in shaping the civic and cultural life of the city through her philanthropic commitments to education, the environment and the arts. The endowed fund at Getty honors her lifelong commitment to the arts and education in Los Angeles.
"My mother was always interested in sharing her appreciation of fine arts from her early days as a docent at the Southwest Museum to her long association with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art," said Chandler's son, Alexander Spear.
"It was always important to her that school-aged children had access to the exhibits under the guidance of knowledgeable docents. This gift to the Getty is a very fitting tribute to her legacy enabling children from a variety of economic backgrounds to have that exposure for years to come. I think she would be very pleased."
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