LOS ANGELES, CA.- Bruce Metro, Head of Preparation at the J. Paul Getty Museum, will retire at the end of September following 31 years at the Getty.

Metro joined the Getty Museum in 1979 and, over the course of his career, has been responsible for the realization of over 400 exhibitions at the Getty Center and the Getty Villa, as well as countless permanent collection gallery installations and reinstallations.

Metro, who began his career at the original Getty Museum in Malibu, played a critical role working with the architect and the contractor on the design, construction, and installation of the Museum at the Getty Center, which opened in 1997, and in the renovation of the Villa Museum in Malibu, which reopened in 2005.

Under his guidance, the Museum has become a recognized leader in packing, crating, moving, and installing works of art, as well as in earthquake protection for the permanent collection.

Acting Museum Director David Bomford praised Metro's work over the past three decades. "Bruce has helped to create and sustain this institution, to which he has devoted an extraordinary amount of time, energy, and expertise. He takes with him a long institutional history, but leaves us a wonderful legacy. I know I, and many others here, will miss his dedication to the Museum as well as his dry sense of humor."