Feb 6 2010
The first UCLA Family Commons wellness center officially opened its doors yesterday during its grand opening and community open house. Santa Monica residents, city officials and media were all invited to join the festivities as the UCLA Family Commons celebrated its official opening with a ribbon cutting, guest speakers and entertainment.
“We are extremely excited to introduce this progressive wellness center to the Los Angeles and Santa Monica communities. This center will provide these communities with the tools they need to live healthy lifestyles, both as individuals and as members of a larger community”
The event opened with local music acts, Nerd Army, a local kids’ band, and Louie Blue & the Bees to welcome guests, followed by the ceremonial ribbon cutting. Speeches were given from the chair of the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce Iao Katagiri, Dr. Harvey Karp, MD, co-director of the UCLA Family Commons Dr. Mary Jane Rotheram-Borus, and UCLA’s executive vice chancellor Scott Waugh. The evening finished with live music from Santa Monica Green Brooms School of Music's Gyllian Lozano. There was also a demonstration and talk given by Amelia Saltsman, author of the Santa Monica Farmer’s Market Cookbook, on eating fruits and vegetables.
Throughout the event, there were educational and interactive components for the guests to experience, such as martial arts demonstrations, yoga instruction, wellness “check-ups” and other interactive computer programs, and more. As part of the kick-off event, Pacific Park’s solar-powered Ferris Wheel was programmed to the newly introduced BEACON Lights at the wellness center. These six experimental and interactive “mood lamps” reflect how people in Santa Monica and surrounding communities feel at any given time through a constant connection to the UCLA Family Commons Web site and users’ Facebook accounts.
Attendees of the event, as well as non-attending community members, were able to go onto the UCLA Family Commons’ Web site and input their mood, thereby changing the colors of the lamps to reflect Santa Monica’s overall feeling. The Ferris Wheel changed colors accordingly, broadcasting the community’s mood to passers-by. The BEACON Lights, which launched on Jan. 25, continue to be a major interactive component of the center, and people can learn more about how they work at http://www.uclacommons.com/mycommons/community.
“We are extremely excited to introduce this progressive wellness center to the Los Angeles and Santa Monica communities. This center will provide these communities with the tools they need to live healthy lifestyles, both as individuals and as members of a larger community,” said Diane Flannery, co-director of the UCLA Family Commons. “Together with UCLA, we are looking forward to making a significant impact on the way kids and adults think and behave when it comes to theirs and each others' health and well-being.”