Opening in 1997 to widespread acclaim, the now much hallowed Getty Museum in Los Angeles has from the very start been deeply committed to education and learning. Nearly three decades later, its impressive lineup of current programs includes in-person and virtual field trips, teen gallery guides, and even an array of events and online resources for K-12 educators seeking to elevate and enhance their own teaching practices.

Perhaps most beloved is its ongoing Family Festival series, which debuted in early 1998. This spring it is pegged to the landmark exhibition 'Photography and the Black Arts Movement, 1955–1985', currently showing at the Getty. As part of an exciting calendar of special events, the museum will host the kid-friendly 'Celebrating Photography and the Black Arts Movement' in its courtyard on May 17, from 10am to 5pm.

What's on exactly? Well, there will be live music with up-and-coming jazz songstress Darynn Dean (whom Music Connection Magazine called "a definite rising star to watch"), the Lula Washington Dance Theatre, DJ Space on the decks, plus storytelling and interactive workshops. It will be the sort of family outing that is equal parts exhilarating, enlightening, and most definitely unforgettable.

The exhibition itself represents a breathtaking sweep of 20th Century Black cultural life in America, with more than 150 works by such notable talents as Kwame Braithwaite, Barkley L. Hendricks and Carrie Mae Weems.

Additional events tied to the exhibit are sure to be fascinating for adults and older kids, those who are starting to learn about things social justice, and want to go a little deeper into our shared American history. On the evening of May 20 it's 'Marching West: The Los Angeles Civil Rights Movement in Photographs', moderated by NPR's Karen Grigsby Bates, which will be in-person and online; the morning of May 21 will be 'Backstage: An Unfurling of the JPC | Black Photography & Visual Culture', an online only event; and on Sunday afternoon, June 7, 'Viewfinders: Artists as Historians' will bring together two venerable authors/photographers, Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe and Deborah Willis, to examine the remarkable scope of Black photographic talent across the decades.

'Photography and the Black Arts Movement: 1955 - 1985' will be on show at the Getty through June 14. Earlier this year the Getty Foundation also awarded $1.8 million in grants for multiple projects focused on elevating education and awareness around the Black visual arts.