Portland, OR. The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) hosted its annual gala on May 12th, where 500 donors joined together to support OMSI’s special brand of hands-on science education across the region. OMSI President and CEO Nancy Stueber and OMSI Emeritus Trustee and Gala Co-Chair Kimberly Cooper helped highlight the meaning of “Industry” in OMSI by honoring longtime industry partners who are helping inspire the next generation of technology leaders to take on the challenges of tomorrow. (Photo credit, Erin Riddle and Kate Horton of KLiK Concepts)
Traci Wheeler, OMSI Trustee John Wheeler, CEO of Vernier Software & Technology, and OMSI Board Chair Penny Serrurier of Stoel Rives
Piper Park and Jim and Cathy Rudd
The event was co-chaired by Christopher and Jill Hall and Kimberly Cooper and Jon Jaqua, and presented by Vernier Software & Technology. Gala attendees were treated to fine food and cocktails provided by Bon Appetit and a performance by award-winning blues artist Curtis Salgado. The evening ended with the Moonstruck Chocolate Lounge where dusted truffles and after-dinner cocktails were served to guests in the Planetarium beneath a twilight display of falling stars. Eleven live auction packages were sold at the event, including a trip to Hawaii’s Big Island with an exclusive telescope tour on Mauna Kea. It was certainly an electric celebration.
At dinner, Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici, OMSI Emeritus Trustee David Vernier, Congressman Earl Blumenauer, and Christine Vernier
Auctioneer Johnna Wells and Emcee Dale Johannes
Greg Chaillé, Co-Chair of the OMSI Strategic Priorities Campaign
Award winning blues artist Curtis Salgado topped off the evening with a stellar performance
OMSI Trustee Claudia Valderrama of Wieden+Kennedy and Graciani Valderrama enjoying cocktail hour with friends
Toni Stevens, from family of OMSI founder J.C. Stevens, and her special guests take a selfie
About OMSI:
Today, the museum serves over 1 million visitors at the museum and through off-site education programs. OMSI is ranked as one of the top science centers in the United States and has an international reputation for its innovative exhibits and educational programs.
Portland, OR. The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) hosted its annual gala, where 500 donors joined together in support of increasing accessibility to science education throughout our region. The event on May 13th, was co-chaired by Gary Maffei, Marcus Lintner, Christopher Hall and Jill Hall. It honored David and Christine Vernier of Vernier Software & Technology. Gala attendees were treated to music by The Bylines and a rap written and rhymed by OMSI’s own Michael Wilson and a performance by broadway star, Shoshana Bean. (Photos by Eric DePangher for VEV Studios)
First Gentleman Dan Little, OMSI Trustee Sue Miller, and Governor Kate Brown.
Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici, OMSI Teen and Google Science Fair Award Winner Anushka Naiknaware and Beaverton Mayor Denny Doyle.
Portland’s own Shoshana Bean, who starred on Broadway in WICKED, donated one of over a dozen live auction packages.
Gala honorees Christine and David Vernier of Vernier Software and Technology have some fun with science.
Here’s a history of OMSI:
OMSI began with the exhibition of Oregon’s rich natural resources with the opening of the City Hall Museum in 1896. But with the Great Depression and World War II, it wasn’t until the mid-forties that support for the museum really began to grow. Businessman Ralph Lloyd hosted the temporary “Oregon Museum of Science and Industry” in his house on NE Hassalo Street, boasting the Northwest’s first public planetarium and its 20-minute trip to the stars.
With annual attendance swelling to over 25,000 in 1955 and the house scheduled for demolition, the City Council stepped forward to lease land in Washington Park to OMSI for the sum of one dollar per year. In the spirit of pioneer barn-raisings, over 400 volunteer union brick layers and hod carriers laid 102,000 bricks in one day, and on June 7, 1958, the dream of a dedicated, hands-on science museum became a reality.
By the mid-1980’s, OMSI’s popularity surpassed the size of its facility six times over and a new group of community leaders began a $32M campaign to build a state-of-the-art science center, culminating with a milestone donation from longtime supporter, Portland General Electric, of an 18.5-acre site that held a historic sawdust-fired power generation plant. On October 24, 1992, the new 219,000 square-foot facilities opened, adding the USS Blueback, the last non-nuclear powered submarine built by the U.S. Navy, just two years later.
Today, the museum serves over 1 million visitors at the museum and through off-site education programs. OMSI is ranked as one of the top science centers in the United States and has an international reputation for its innovative exhibits and educational programs.
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