The 20 year old Zimmer Children’s Museum near LACMA has travelled cross-town and transformed into the Cayton Children’s Museum at the Santa Monica Place to offer hands-on play exhibits and cultural programs for children and families.
Officially, it opened on Sunday June 30, but unofficially, it opened on Saturday June 29th with a pre-opening kick-off party hosted by philanthropists Dr Gabriel and Christine Chiu of Beverly Hills Plastic Surgery to celebrate their son Gabriel’s first birthday.
The Chius also gave Gabriel a one million donation gift to dedicate a wing of the museum and support ShareWell, the nonprofit arm of the Cayton as well as the Chiu Fun-For-All fund to provide free museum admission for children in underserved communities.
Guests enjoyed carnival themed activations. There was a Gucci claw machine, a money booth, virtual reality, a custom Baby G surf shop, a floral ferris wheel, arcade games, and marionette shows. Cotton candy machine , stiltwalkers, and face painting, and live music provided plenty of selfie opportunities and added to the fun.
Passed hors d’oeuvres featured upscaled carnival fare: fried chicken on waffle, wagyu beef sliders, lobster rolls, clam chowder in sour dough bowls, tater tots topped with caviar, corn dogs on stick, popcorn and popsicles.
The jigsaw puzzle party invitation requested donations to the Chiu Fun for All fund instead of gifts to provide free museum admission to underserved kids.
All that made for quite a party for Baby G – he could be seen in the ball pit having a whale of a time himself!
