It's only natural for visitors to the Getty Museum to want to touch the beautiful artworks. Usually visitors don't realize the cumulative damage that results when many individuals touch objects, even very lightly. Before your visit, try the following classroom activity to help your students understand why they cannot touch the art on display at the Museum.

Step 1: Take two pieces of ordinary white paper (about four by five inches) and pass one of the sheets around the classroom. Ask each student to rub it between his or her fingers for a moment before passing it along.

Step 2: After everyone has touched the paper, have students compare it to the piece that was not passed around.

Step 3: Discuss how much dirt and oil are on the sheet that they touched and how these residues can damage works of art. Tell students that thousands of people visit the Museum every day, and speculate on what the paper might look like if thousands of people had touched it! Use student comments as a springboard for a discussion on the importance of preserving art for future generations. Why is it important to preserve artworks? What can we learn from art? What artworks at home or in the community would students want to preserve? Why?