Art Pigs

Ol' J.P. Getty wanted his Museum to be free, & it is. Uh, save for the parking fee, which probably wasn't part of his bequest. So here's a surprise:

That's an impressive number: $6.4 million in parking revenue, more than the annual income of many, many non-profits in Los Angeles. For those who are chagrined by the unofficial admission fee, the plot thickens when they look deeper into the 990 forms. They show the parking income in tax year 2009 was just $4,707,447. That year the Getty bumped the parking charge up to $15, saying it was necessary to keep the museum financially healthy. About 200 positions were also eliminated. By 2011, the last year for which the Getty has filed, the parking revenue had swelled to $6.4 million. So the parking fee hike, and any increase in visits, brought in an extra $1,774,200 a year.

Those same 990 forms also show that between 2009 and last year, the amount paid in compensation to officers, directors and trustees also swelled — from $2,301,872 (in '09) to $4,062,574 (in '11.) That's a net increase in high-level salaries of $1,760,702 for the year.

Using what Bill Clinton calls arithmetic, that suggests all but $16,502 of the increased parking revenues went for compensation to the highest officers at the Getty. Nice to know, if you're just an art lover who wants to visit one of the richest-endowed museums in the world.

Do as we do, tell those fuckers to go to hell by taking the bus to their temple of greed. Honestly, we only go for the grounds & view; few of the exhibitions are worth the drive or the parking fee.

Christ, what a bunch of greedy assholes.