The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic was swift and confusing, with breaking news and information about the virus changing by the hour. Around the world, art museums had to make difficult decisions.

In a two-part series, six US museum directors discuss with J. Paul Getty Trust President and CEO James Cuno the pandemic and its repercussions. These candid, insightful conversations address wide-ranging topics, from the logistical challenges of when to close and how to reopen to philosophical exchanges about the role of museums in society.
 
Part 1
This episode features Max Hollein of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Kaywin Feldman of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, and James Rondeau of the Art Institute of Chicago.

How staff will work now and in the future is discussed, while the collaboration among institutions, along with the need to include smaller ones, is noted.

 
Part 2
This episode features Matthew Teitelbaum of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Ann Philbin of the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, and Timothy Potts of the J. Paul Getty Museum.

Museum leaders discuss the immediate challenges their institutions are facing, and future planning. How to help artists, retain staff, and fundraise through digital efforts are other topics at the forefront. Ann Philbin (Hammer Museum) says, "So many of the programs that we’re putting online now, we’re receiving, you know, four, five times the audiences we had when they were in a 300-seat theater. This is clear to us, that it is something we need to develop further, we need to fundraise for."