Children's Museum Headed to Santa Monica Place Receives Major Donation

By Lookout Staff

April 2, 2018 -- The Zimmer Children's Museum will have a new name when it opens at Santa Monica Place this year thanks to a major gift from Barry and Andrea Cayton, museum officials announced Monday.

The museum -- which is run by the Los Angeles-based non-profit ShareWell -- will be named the Cayton Children's Museum in honor of the gift, whose amount the family has chosen to keep private, ShareWell officials said.

The museum will feature "a new, expanded experience" and a curated museum shop at its new Santa Monica location, where it will offer classes and public programs in arts, music and movement, cross-cultural exchange, school readiness, early childhood education and languages.

"The Cayton Children's Museum by ShareWell will be the place that transforms generations of children and youth by encouraging practice through play," said Esther Netter, ShareWell's founder and CEO.

"Our exhibits and programs teach children and young people that kindness and empathy are core to strong, healthy communities where people work together to move forward," Netter said.

ShareWell will use the gift to continue to expand its museum programs, youth development efforts, special exhibits and educational offerings, museum officials said.

The museum will relocate from its current Los Angeles location on Wilshire Boulevard to a 21,000-square-foot space at Santa Monica Place later this year.

The new location allows for "extended hours, increased access and higher visibility," with an estimated 300,000 visitors expected to visit each year, officialss said.

The Cayton Family -- whose philanthropic endeavors have previously included public and private gifts to numerous charitable organizations and funds -- said they are "eager" to see the museum grow.

"As parents ourselves, we place tremendous importance on the values that ShareWell is built on: kindness, responsibility, social justice, and inclusivity," Barry and Andrea Cayton said in a statement.

"We are proud to reinforce these fundamental principles and are eager to see the continued growth and achievements that they yield."

The children's museum, which currently operates as The Zimmer Children's Museum by ShareWell, serves infants to children 8 years of age and their families.

In 1992, ShareWell expanded its outreach by forming the youTHink youth development initiative that teaches arts enrichment, leadership development and social justice programs to underserved middle and high school youth.