{"id":76353,"date":"2025-10-16T16:03:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T23:03:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=76353"},"modified":"2025-10-16T16:03:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T23:03:12","slug":"the-natural-history-museums-of-los-angeles-county-raises-more-than-1-6-million-at-inaugural-night-of-wonder-gala","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=76353","title":{"rendered":"The Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County Raises More than $1.6 Million at Inaugural Night of Wonder Gala"},"content":{"rendered":"

Attendees included actress Sheryl Lee Ralph, TV personality Heather Dubrow, and\u00a0emcee Anthony Anderson<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Sheryl Lee Ralph and Anthony Anderson attend Night of Wonder at<\/p>\n

the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County<\/p>\n

October 15, 2025. Photo by SPF Studios. Courtesy of NHMLAC<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Los Angeles, CA (October 16, 2025)<\/strong> \u2013\u00a0The Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County (NHMLAC) held its inaugural\u00a0Night of Wonder\u00a0gala on Wednesday, October 15, raising more than $1.6 million. Night of Wonder saw donors, celebrities, and other VIPs come together to support the Natural History Museum and La Brea Tar Pits and their communities.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cNight of Wonder\u00a0celebrates and supports the Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County\u2019s commitment to science, nature, and community,\u201d said\u00a0Lori Bettison-Varga, President and Director of the Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County. \u201cThe generous support we received will fuel our equity-focused approach to developing science literacy for the next generation, including through our STEM and STEAM Pathways programs, our world-class research, community science and urban biodiversity initiatives, and inspiring museum experiences at both NHM and La Brea Tar Pits.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to donors, trustees, and NHMLAC leadership, the\u00a0\u00a0Night of Wonder\u00a0guest list included\u00a0Senator Ben Allen,\u00a0Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell, who represents the Second supervisorial district of Los Angeles County,\u00a0Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky, actress\u00a0Sheryl Lee Ralph,\u00a0author\u00a0Jared Diamond, director\u00a0McG, Real Housewife and TV personality,\u00a0Heather and Terry Dubrow,\u00a0actor\u00a0Christopher Diamantopoulos,\u00a0actress\u00a0Danielle Panabaker,\u00a0sportscaster\u00a0Taylor Rooks, TV personality\u00a0Taylor Hale,\u00a0and others.\u00a0Emceed by\u00a0Anthony Anderson, the evening featured an elegant dinner, signature cocktails, and a robust paddle raise bringing in crucial support.<\/p>\n

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, was honored at the event. The week before the gala, she visited the museum for a private donor event at La Brea Tar Pits, where she spent time with students from the Girls Academic Leadership Academy at Project 23, learning hands-on about how the Ice Age, climate change, and fire all impacted the LA basin 12,000 years ago. She shared her support for the Museums via a special video message to those in attendance at the gala, championing NHM\u2019s mission to inspire wonder and a sense of discovery for our natural and cultural worlds.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur dazzling new gala reflects the awe-inspiring diversity and beauty of the Natural History Museums’ collections, groundbreaking programs, and especially the Museum’s enduring commitment to protect and enhance urban nature,\u201d said Megan McGowan Epstein, President of the Board of Trustees of the Natural History Museums. \u201cI am inspired by the generosity that supports NHM’s work to conserve and document the rich biodiversity of our urban landscape. We are so grateful to our supporters, including Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, whose passion for education and community empowerment continues to inspire us.\u201d<\/p>\n

McGowan Epstein co-chaired the event together with\u00a0Alan Epstein,\u00a0Rick Genow, and\u00a0Mary Fulginiti-Genow. Their leadership and community connections played a key role in the event.<\/p>\n

Celebrating the Museums\u2019 impact and the donors\u2019 vital role in supporting community connection to the natural world, the immersive\u00a0Night of Wonder\u00a0program wove the magic of L.A.\u2019s landscape throughout the event, raising awareness of the impact of educational and scientific work being done at the Museums.<\/p>\n

Produced by My Beautiful City, the event evoked an enchanted nocturnal garden infused with distinctively L.A. elements. The evening featured different experiences, including live music, throughout NHM\u2019s most iconic spaces, exploring the recently opened NHM Commons, highlighting the Judith Perlstein Welcome Center and Commons Theater, with dinner served in Mr. & Mrs. Samuel Oschin and Family Hall of African Mammals and the North American Mammal Hall, and a dance party in the Grand Foyer among the Dueling Dinos to end the evening.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Attendees included actress Sheryl Lee Ralph,...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-76353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ca-local"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=76353"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76353\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":76354,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76353\/revisions\/76354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=76353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=76353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=76353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}