Annenberg Community Beach House Kicks Off Summer with Families and Friends

The summer kickoff Saturday for the Annenberg Community Beach House at Santa Monica State Beach drew families and friends who gathered to swim, listen to live music and participate in free games, arts and crafts.

The day of festivities started at 10 a.m. at the pool with synchronized swimming group the Aqualillies. Afterward, upbeat music from the DJ stand provided a melodic backdrop for guests who engaged in a variety of creative endeavors such as chalk art, a scavenger hunt, designing Hula-Hoops (which could then be taken home) and a puppet-making station.

Inside the tent decorated with paper jellyfish, children and adults alike got to work with tissue paper, wooden dowels and colorful pipe cleaners to design their own puppets to take home.

“It’s great,” said Amy Hughes, a resident of Westwood who was assisting her 3-year-old daughter Zia with her puppet. “I even brought my newborn.”

Providing puppet-making demonstrations was Jen Bloom, director of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, produced for the summer residency at the Annenberg Community Beach House Culture series. Bloom said the puppet-making station was in preparation for The Tempest production scheduled for Aug. 10–14, which will be held outdoors and will be free for the public, with reservations required.

“Everything that’s leftover today we’ll use in Clover Park in July, another community event,” Bloom said. “By then we’ll be further along with the design where we’ll be doing large faces and papier-maché.”

In the courtyard, Annenberg staff provided industrial-sized containers of sunblock and bubble guns for younger enthusiasts as well as information about the Beach House, which is open to the public without a membership. Up the steps near the pool, a fountain attracted small children who delighted in cooling down while parents lounged and enjoyed the view of ocean and sand in the distance.

"It's a great place to be," said Nikki Lind, a Beach House employee. "It's a great place for the community."

Inside the community house—where free concerts, readings and lectures are planned every Tuesday through July and August—guests enjoyed other amenities free for the day’s celebration such as the Sea and Sand Fitness Room with ocean views, and the Marion Davies Guest House and Gallery, whose current exhibition, Considering Eden, is displaying the work of five California artists. 

The exhibit is set to run through July 12 and will be followed by Cultural Abstraction, Contemporary Figurations: the Work of Seven Contemporary Figurative Painters in Santa Monica beginning July 28.

Additionally, the Beach House will be offering a variety of classes throughout the summer with varying fees, including paddleboarding, yoga, synchronized swimming, snorkeling and beach volleyball.

“I plan to come here all summer. This is a great spot,” said Roxana Tawlian, having recently arrived from Hawaii. “California is the best.”  

The next special event planned is a July 23 showing of Surf’s Up! Also, every Monday from 1–4 p.m. enjoy special activities for the whole family or take advantage of $1 admission to the pool from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., excluding the Fourth of July and Labor Day.

Regular pool admission is $4 for ages 1–17, $10 for adults, $5 for seniors and $24 for a family pass that includes two adults and two children. For more information, click here.