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Enjoy a Free Family Day at the California Museum on Dec 1

Enjoy a free family day at the California Museum in downtown Sacramento on Saturday, Dec 1, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Tour the new “Health Happens Here” multimedia exhibit and explore the “Winter Wonderland” display. There will be holiday craft workshops from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., a how to create Tapigami workshop from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m., and a chance for kids to meet Dora the Explorer from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

The news release below provides more information about the new “Health Happens Here” multimedia exhibit.

First-of-its-Kind “Health Happens Here” Exhibit Opens at The California Museum

Innovative multimedia exhibit challenges conventional views on “health” through series of high tech video games & interactive learning stations

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Today, the California Museum, in partnership with The California Endowment, officially debuted “Health Happens Here,” a first-of-its-kind digital multimedia exhibit that invites visitors to explore health beyond doctors, diet and exercise.  The exhibit incorporates high-tech games to engage and educate visitors, including an interactive journey through a virtual school cafeteria, a brush with school yard bullies, and a chance for visitors to physically navigate a city street confronted by good and bad health choices.

“You don’t change the conventional wisdom about health with a conventional exhibit, and ‘Health Happens Here’ is anything but conventional,” said Daniel Zingale, Senior Vice President of The California Endowment.  “It is more than an exhibit.  It’s the voice of everyday Californians who know their health and their lives depend on where they live, work and play.”

Developed in partnership with The California Endowment over a two year period, the “Health Happens Here” exhibit embodies tenets behind The Endowment’s statewide Health Happens Here campaign, which challenges Californians to think about health beyond the doctor’s office.  The Health Happens Here campaign is built around the idea that health depends largely on where people live, learn, work, and play. The exhibit is based upon the newest statistics from the U.S. Census and Measure of America’s Human Development research, which exposed the startling fact that zip codes can predict life expectancy.

“California has long been regarded as the most health-conscious state in the nation,” said Richard Costigan III, Chair of The California Museum’s Board of Trustees.  “’Health Happens Here’ takes our state’s leadership on health to the next level, making the connections among individual, community and statewide decisions and California’s legendary quality of life.”

Designed by West Office Exhibit Design in Oakland with content provided by California youth, the gallery features kid-friendly, high-tech games and videos throughout various interactive stations, including:

  • Heads Up: An immersive experience that explores factors that add and subtract from the health of a community.  Players use their bodies to grab and collect items that affect community health.
  • Fight Blight: A hands-on station where players are challenged to think about the ways their surroundings impact health, while making decisions about community design.
  • Stop the Glop:  A this-or-that game that engages players to select items from a school lunch line that will best support their nutritional needs so they can thrive.
  • Check it Out:  A game of comparisons where players select healthy food at a grocery store, and are then challenged to purchase another health-conscious meal at a convenience store.
  • Stop the Drop:  A high-speed, think on your feet game that asks players to match kids with the support they need as they climb the rope to high school graduation and adulthood.
  • ¡S¡, Se Puede!:  A team-building collaborative game in which four players must work together to navigate a ball suspended by three ropes to targets on a game board in order to change their community for the better.
  • Peacekeeper:  An interactive journey that asks players to answer questions over the course of the school day to build peer support and prevent bullying.
  • State of Health: An educational station that allows players to enter their zip code and have their picture taken.  The photo is then utilized in a mosaic of images and life expectancies across a map of California.

In order to allow Californians of all ages a taste of the exhibit, select games are available for play on the exhibit’s micro web site located at www.CaliforniaMuseum.org/hhh.

In another museum first, visitors will earn points as they interact with the exhibit.  These points are converted into real dollars that visitors can then donate to one of 10 organizations that are making health happen in California.  The donations are made possible by The California Endowment.

“As a nonprofit institution, The California Museum is dedicated to educating and enlightening more than 50,000 annual student visitors with the state’s history and culture of innovation,” said Executive Director Dori Moorehead. “By adding ‘Health Happens Here’ to our existing programming, we are able to further that mission by redefining the concept of health in the present which will help create a healthier state in the future. By educating California’s next generation of dreamers on how they can increase their access to choices, the Museum is able to help shape California’s long-term well-being and continued status as the hub of innovation in the future.”

The exhibit is open to the public during normal museum hours, Tuesday through Saturday, 10:00am to 5:00pm, and Sunday 12:00pm to 5:00pm.

ABOUT THE CALIFORNIA ENDOWMENT

The California Endowment is a private, statewide health foundation, which was established in 1996 to expand access to affordable, quality health care for underserved individuals and communities, and to promote fundamental improvements in the health status of all Californians. Headquartered in downtown Los Angeles, The Endowment has regional offices in Sacramento, Oakland, Fresno and San Diego, with program staff working throughout the state. The Endowment challenges the conventional wisdom that medical settings and individual choices are solely responsible for people’s health. The Endowment believes that health happens in neighborhoods, schools, and with prevention. For more information, visit The Endowment’s homepage at CalEndow.org.

ABOUT THE CALIFORNIA MUSEUM

A self-supporting 501(c)3 non-profit, The California Museum — home of the California Hall of Fame — engages, educates and enlightens people about California’s rich history and unique contributions to the world through ideas, innovation, the arts and culture. Through interactive and innovative experiences, the Museum inspires men, women and children to dream the California dream and dares them to make their own mark on history. Open Tues.-Sat. 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.; Sun.: 12:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. Admission: adults $8.50; college students & seniors $7.00 with valid ID; youth 6-17: $6.00; children 5 & under free. For more information, visit CaliforniaMuseum.org.

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