The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Villa

On the first floor off of the Triclinium are two interactive exhibit rooms. The Family Forum provides a space where children and adults can explore ancient cultures with hands-on activities. The artistically inclined can draw designs on replica vases and urns with dry-erase markers. A shadow play area allows you to grab a sword or pitcher and become a live part of the black on red vase motif. A touchy-feely display lets you reach through holes in a wall to feel what the clay for the vases would have felt like.

On the other side of the Triclinium, the TimeScape exhibit helps to put the Greek, Roman and Etruscan cultures into geographical and chronological perspective. Three parallel timelines wrap around three walls. An interactive map allows you to visualize who covered what territory when. Video stations highlight stylistic differences in the representational art of the three cultures. There are also GettyGuide stations where you can use the computer directory to look up specific artifacts to learn more about them and find their location in the Museum.

Upstairs on the east side of the building there are more GettyGuide stations. You can also access the collection online at http://www.getty.edu/art/ to get a preview.