LOS ANGELES — For a County as diverse as Los Angeles, the majority of those that work in museums are predominantly white, which can lead to further inequities for curators of color like Jocelyn Lopez-Anleu. Growing up in South L.A., Lopez-Anleu didn’t visit her first museum until she was a senior in high school.

“And that required me to hop on a bus, two of them actually, to get to MOCA and that doesn’t even begin to consider how I felt in those spaces as a person of color walking into a museum,” said Lopez-Anleu.

What You Need To Know

  • 74% of L.A. County’s population identify as people of color, yet they only occupy 41% of the arts workforce

  • 32% of Getty Marrow alumni go on to work in the arts and 92% of those say their internship inspired the career choice

  • 80% of alumni visit museums regularly as a result of their internships and 45% have joined arts organizations as members as a result of participating in the program

  • Since 1993, the Getty Marrow Undergraduate Internship Program has supported paid positions for more than 3,200 interns at 175 organizations across Los Angeles County

A second year Getty Marrow Undergraduate Intern, Lopez-Anleu is currently working at LAND, the Los Angeles Nomadic Division, where they reimagine the city and create site specific public arts projects. A paid program, it’s an opportunity for her to focus on her passion without getting sidetracked.  

“I love curation because it allows me to bring arts back into my community and more specifically just create this bridge between academia and the public that may not have been accessible before,” said Lopez-Anleu.

The largest diversity internship program for the visual arts in the U.S., The Getty has supported paid positions for more than 3,200 interns at 175 organizations across LA County since 1993, but there’s still more work to be done.

Raúl Flores is the Artistic Director of Artworx LA and like Lopez-Anleu, Flores first got his start years ago as a Getty Marrow intern.

“I think one thing that’s special about this internship is that it instilled in me the importance of seeing Black, Indigenous and people of color in executive leadership positions and senior staff in cultural institutions of all sizes,” said Flores. “And really that’s what I try to nurture that same vision for interns at Artworx LA as well.”


Seventy-four percent of L.A. County’s population identify as people of color, yet they only occupy 41% of the arts workforce. More diverse interns will lead to a more diverse workforce, which will eventually diversify art in museums and audiences. And Lopez-Anleu is well on her way. Being a Getty Marrow intern has led to more opportunities, such as working as an assistant curator at LACE for their upcoming PST show in 2024.

“Coming from South Central, being a first generation student, my parents being from Guatemala, it means a lot and it really makes me feel like there’s a space for me in this world if we really just try to reclaim it,” said Lopez-Anleu. “We just have to be given access and the opportunity to enter these spaces.”