The first online exhibition from the Getty Research Institute (GRI), The Legacy of Ancient Palmyra, highlights two rare collections from the GRI documenting an important archeological site that has recently undergone destruction amid the Syrian war. These collections include the first photographs of the ancient monuments of Palmyra, including many destroyed in 2015 and 2017 by ISIS. Because the GRI’s two collections are not accessible together anywhere else, the exhibition team sought to make these materials freely available with accompanying scholarly interpretation to anyone with Internet access. The GRI’s 100 etchings of Palmyra by artist Louis François Cassas were recorded during his late-18th century journey through the Ottoman Empire. The second collection comprises 29 photographs by sea captain, Louis Vignes, who documented Palmyra, as a side trip during an 1864 scientific expedition to the Dead Sea. The online exhibition takes advantage of the comparisons presented by these two collections to dive deeper into the archaeological and art-historical context of this site. Taking fourteen months to develop, the project considered how to take a visitor’s gallery experience – such as looking closely at an image and then standing back from a different perspective – and to translate this to desktop, tablet, and mobile devices. How could we evoke, but also move beyond a gallery experience? How might we offer an online exhibition that brings highly detailed 18th-century prints and 19th-century photographs into a 21st-century digital environment? A primary goal sought to build – through a responsive design – a site that would capture wayfinding and a narrative progression in a digital experience without forcing viewers onto a single “path” through the exhibition. This talk describes how the curators and the digital team addressed these challenges and how they informed decisions about design, layout, technical features, and image presentation.

1. Making the Getty Research Institute’s
First Online Exhibition

2. The J. Paul Getty Trust

3. The Getty Research Institute

6. Palmyra

7. Louis Vignes's Palmyra Album
Close to 30,000 people saw two GRI
Facebook posts about the acquisition
and digitization of Louis Vignes's rare
photograph album of the ruins of
Palmyra, Syria.

8. Monuments Destroyed by ISIS between 2015 and 2017

9. What is the GRI’s
responsibility and role?

10. Louis Vignes (1831–1896)Louis-François Cassas (1756–1827)

11. Monumental Arch

12. Temple of Baalshamin

13. Tower Tombs

14. Exhibition outline in December 2015

15. Analysis of Palmyra Content Online
We found:
• News websites about Palmyra
• 3-D Modeling websites that are attempting to recreate the
monuments
• Informational/events websites for specialists that list
scholarly conferences about Palmyra
• Museum Collections pages, featuring objects (and captions
only) about Palmyra
• Onsite Museum exhibitions about Palmyra, but little to no
web presence about them
• Wikipedia page with lots of facts and figures

16. What is an online exhibition?

17. Website analysis
We reviewed:
• Award-winning websites
• Websites that were immersive, with engaging
digital features

18. A flowing narrative through scrolling images and text

21. Progress Bar along the bottom

25. Hot spots that provide scholarly context
and present more images

27. Curators
Frances Terpak, Getty Research Institute, curator
Peter Louis Bonfitto, Getty Research Institute, research associate
Project Team
Betsy Brand, Getty Research Institute, digital engagement
Paula Carlson, J. Paul Getty Trust Web Group, web developer and programmer
Jane Friedman, Getty Research Institute, project associate
Alicia Houtrouw, Getty Research Institute, content strategist
Andrew Kersey, Getty Research Institute, content strategist and project editor
Ahree Lee, J. Paul Getty Trust Web Group, user experience designer
Liz McDermott, Getty Research Institute, project lead
Uma Nair, Getty Research Institute, project manager
Karen Nakada, The Happening Studio, visual designer
Masato Nakada, The Happening Studio, visual designer
Kayleigh Perkov, Getty Research Institute, graduate intern

28. Curators
Frances Terpak, Getty Research Institute, curator
Peter Louis Bonfitto, Getty Research Institute, research associate
Project Team
Betsy Brand, Getty Research Institute, digital engagement
Paula Carlson, J. Paul Getty Trust Web Group, web developer and programmer
Jane Friedman, Getty Research Institute, project associate
Alicia Houtrouw, Getty Research Institute, content strategist
Andrew Kersey, Getty Research Institute, content strategist and project editor
Ahree Lee, J. Paul Getty Trust Web Group, user experience designer
Liz McDermott, Getty Research Institute, project lead
Uma Nair, Getty Research Institute, project manager
Karen Nakada, The Happening Studio, visual designer
Masato Nakada, The Happening Studio, visual designer
Kayleigh Perkov, Getty Research Institute, graduate intern

29. Curators
Frances Terpak, Getty Research Institute, curator
Peter Louis Bonfitto, Getty Research Institute, research associate
Project Team
Betsy Brand, Getty Research Institute, digital engagement
Paula Carlson, J. Paul Getty Trust Web Group, web developer and programmer
Jane Friedman, Getty Research Institute, project associate
Alicia Houtrouw, Getty Research Institute, content strategist
Andrew Kersey, Getty Research Institute, content strategist and project editor
Ahree Lee, J. Paul Getty Trust Web Group, user experience designer
Liz McDermott, Getty Research Institute, project lead
Uma Nair, Getty Research Institute, project manager
Karen Nakada, The Happening Studio, visual designer
Masato Nakada, The Happening Studio, visual designer
Kayleigh Perkov, Getty Research Institute, graduate intern

30. Curators
Frances Terpak, Getty Research Institute, curator
Peter Louis Bonfitto, Getty Research Institute, research associate
Project Team
Betsy Brand, Getty Research Institute, digital engagement
Paula Carlson, J. Paul Getty Trust Web Group, web developer and programmer
Jane Friedman, Getty Research Institute, project associate
Alicia Houtrouw, Getty Research Institute, content strategist
Andrew Kersey, Getty Research Institute, content strategist and project editor
Ahree Lee, J. Paul Getty Trust Web Group, user experience designer
Liz McDermott, Getty Research Institute, project lead
Uma Nair, Getty Research Institute, project manager
Karen Nakada, The Happening Studio, visual designer
Masato Nakada, The Happening Studio, visual designer
Kayleigh Perkov, Getty Research Institute, graduate intern

31. Curators
Frances Terpak, Getty Research Institute, curator
Peter Louis Bonfitto, Getty Research Institute, research associate
Project Team
Betsy Brand, Getty Research Institute, digital engagement
Paula Carlson, J. Paul Getty Trust Web Group, web developer and programmer
Jane Friedman, Getty Research Institute, project associate
Alicia Houtrouw, Getty Research Institute, content strategist
Andrew Kersey, Getty Research Institute, content strategist and project editor
Ahree Lee, J. Paul Getty Trust Web Group, user experience designer
Liz McDermott, Getty Research Institute, project lead
Uma Nair, Getty Research Institute, project manager
Karen Nakada, The Happening Studio, visual designer
Masato Nakada, The Happening Studio, visual designer
Kayleigh Perkov, Getty Research Institute, graduate intern

32. Curators
Frances Terpak, Getty Research Institute, curator
Peter Louis Bonfitto, Getty Research Institute, research associate
Project Team
Betsy Brand, Getty Research Institute, digital engagement
Paula Carlson, J. Paul Getty Trust Web Group, web developer and programmer
Jane Friedman, Getty Research Institute, project associate
Alicia Houtrouw, Getty Research Institute, content strategist
Andrew Kersey, Getty Research Institute, content strategist and project editor
Ahree Lee, J. Paul Getty Trust Web Group, user experience designer
Liz McDermott, Getty Research Institute, project lead
Uma Nair, Getty Research Institute, project manager
Karen Nakada, The Happening Studio, visual designer
Masato Nakada, The Happening Studio, visual designer
Kayleigh Perkov, Getty Research Institute, graduate intern

33. Curators
Frances Terpak, Getty Research Institute, curator
Peter Louis Bonfitto, Getty Research Institute, research associate
Project Team
Betsy Brand, Getty Research Institute, digital engagement
Paula Carlson, J. Paul Getty Trust Web Group, web developer and programmer
Jane Friedman, Getty Research Institute, project associate
Alicia Houtrouw, Getty Research Institute, content strategist
Andrew Kersey, Getty Research Institute, content strategist and project editor
Ahree Lee, J. Paul Getty Trust Web Group, user experience designer
Liz McDermott, Getty Research Institute, project lead
Uma Nair, Getty Research Institute, project manager
Karen Nakada, The Happening Studio, visual designer
Masato Nakada, The Happening Studio, visual designer
Kayleigh Perkov, Getty Research Institute, graduate intern

34. Curators
Frances Terpak, Getty Research Institute, curator
Peter Louis Bonfitto, Getty Research Institute, research associate
Project Team
Betsy Brand, Getty Research Institute, digital engagement
Paula Carlson, J. Paul Getty Trust Web Group, web developer and programmer
Jane Friedman, Getty Research Institute, project associate
Alicia Houtrouw, Getty Research Institute, content strategist
Andrew Kersey, Getty Research Institute, content strategist and project editor
Ahree Lee, J. Paul Getty Trust Web Group, user experience designer
Liz McDermott, Getty Research Institute, project lead
Uma Nair, Getty Research Institute, project manager
Karen Nakada, The Happening Studio, visual designer
Masato Nakada, The Happening Studio, visual designer
Kayleigh Perkov, Getty Research Institute, graduate intern

35. Curators
Frances Terpak, Getty Research Institute, curator
Peter Louis Bonfitto, Getty Research Institute, research associate
Project Team
Betsy Brand, Getty Research Institute, digital engagement
Paula Carlson, J. Paul Getty Trust Web Group, web developer and programmer
Jane Friedman, Getty Research Institute, project associate
Alicia Houtrouw, Getty Research Institute, content strategist
Andrew Kersey, Getty Research Institute, content strategist and project editor
Ahree Lee, J. Paul Getty Trust Web Group, user experience designer
Liz McDermott, Getty Research Institute, project lead
Uma Nair, Getty Research Institute, project manager
Karen Nakada, The Happening Studio, visual designer
Masato Nakada, The Happening Studio, visual designer
Kayleigh Perkov, Getty Research Institute, graduate intern

36. Curators
Frances Terpak, Getty Research Institute, curator
Peter Louis Bonfitto, Getty Research Institute, research associate
Project Team
Betsy Brand, Getty Research Institute, digital engagement
Paula Carlson, J. Paul Getty Trust Web Group, web developer and programmer
Jane Friedman, Getty Research Institute, project associate
Alicia Houtrouw, Getty Research Institute, content strategist
Andrew Kersey, Getty Research Institute, content strategist and project editor
Ahree Lee, J. Paul Getty Trust Web Group, user experience designer
Liz McDermott, Getty Research Institute, project lead
Uma Nair, Getty Research Institute, project manager
Karen Nakada, The Happening Studio, visual designer
Masato Nakada, The Happening Studio, visual designer
Kayleigh Perkov, Getty Research Institute, graduate intern

41. Usability testing

42. Problem solving and answering questions
through the UX process

43. Usability testing

46. Focus text

49. Fail early and fail often!

50. UX
Design
Build
Editing
“Digital is faster”

51. Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen Art Gallery of South Australia, AdelaideNational Trust, Erddig, Wrexham, Wales
From Emily Anne Beaufort Smythe, Viscountess Strangford, Egyptian Sepulchres and Syrian Shrines. The Getty Research Institute

52. Final wireframes

55. Visual Design Workshop

56. Visual Design Workshop

64. How do we promote an online exhibition?

68. www.getty.edu/palmyra
THANK YOU
Frances Terpak: fterpak@getty.edu
Liz McDermott: lmcdermott@getty.edu