Last February, I walked through a tent where LED walls projected moving Warhol imagery and color-blocked fabric was draped from the ceiling. Cans dipped in paint served as candleholders. Caviar cannoli were arranged on serving trays printed with Marilyn Monroe’s face. Neo-pop art powerhouse Romero Britto helmed a table close to the stage, and I was there in a `60s-inspired Halston shift in the line’s signature fire-engine red, with banana earrings and a lipstick-shaped minaudière. This was Night at the Museum, the annual fundraiser for Golisano Children’s Museum of Naples (CMON).
As a longtime editor at Gulfshore Life and patron of many nonprofits, I’ve attended hundreds of philanthropic galas over the years, almost all of them swanky affairs, where guests dress in suits and gowns, bid politely and leave after dessert. Night at the Museum (NAM) takes a different tack.
The evening starts with a packed cocktail hour amid reimagined exhibits, then moves into a tented world erected on CMON’s grounds. The momentum never wanes. After a charged live auction, guests crowd the dance floor until organizers shut it down—or the cops are called. Celebrity appearances are part of the lore. Tennis legend John McEnroe once hovered so close during a live auction that I could see the sweat on his brow as my tablemate battled for a Wimbledon prize, ultimately raising $150,000 for the mission.
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Photography by Anna Nguyen
cmon naples fundraiser color factory caviar cannoli
Caviar cannoli spread across trays with polka dots or pictures of Marilyn Monroe served as appetizers at last year’s The Color Factory-themed Night at the Museum, the annual gala for Golisano Children’s Museum of Naples.
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Photography by Anna Nguyen
cmon naples fundraiser color factory table setting
Yes, we’re all motivated to support a thriving children’s museum, but that’s not the sole reason my friend group dashes to secure seats to NAM the minute they’re released, along with around 400 other attendees. For one night, the usual guardrails fall away. You’re not working. You’re not parenting. Rather than explaining why a children’s museum matters, CMON lets us feel it. “The costume edge allows people to let go and get in touch with their inner child,” says Simone Lutgert, an early board member (now emeritus) who chaired the capital campaign to build the museum.
Simone and fellow longtime CMON patron Joan Clifford reimagined the fundraiser into its current iteration in 2019, evolving from the long-running, 200-person Pirate Balls and varied smaller, themed galas. The women got Dennis Quaid to attend, Steve Augeri from Journey performed and studded leather filled the room for Night at the Museum: Party Like a Rockstar. The gamble paid off. Attendance doubled, and fundraising jumped from a few hundred thousand dollars to about $1.5 million.
At heart, the magic of the night lies in the attire and the fantastical themes the event chairs conceive. Ashley Gerry, who has co-chaired the two most recent galas, came up with the idea for The Color Factory while looking through photos of her daughter Aniston’s “Ani Warhol” 4th birthday party. “The colors of pop art and the playfulness were a perfect fit for our museum,” she says.
Photography by Anna Nguyen
Photography by Anna Nguyen
Photography by Anna Nguyen
Photography by Anna Nguyen
The best concepts allow for interpretation, getting guests excited to imagine who they might become for the night. In one picture from 2021’s British Invasion, I was Princess Kate standing next to Princess Diana in her revenge dress, flanked by a polo player, Posh Spice, David Bowie, Twiggy and a Revolutionary War–era colonel. For some friends, like last year’s co-chair Lily Ustayev, designers create custom outfits, like her Dolce & Gabbana, Lichtenstein-esque, comic-book-printed dress and matching knee-high boots.
By the time the live auction begins, we’re all in on the shared fantasy and primed for generosity. The auction’s architecture supports the energy. Last year, Lily and her husband, Arsen, sourced one of the night’s biggest hits by persuading Romero Britto to attend the gala and donate an original work paired with a private tour of his Miami studio. It sold for $50,000. “I try to think through every detail from the guests’ point of view—not just what would be exciting on paper, but what would feel special, seamless and worth raising a paddle for in the moment,” Lily says. She focuses on experiences that feel attainable but impossible to book if you’re not in the room.
The bids are the engine for much of what the museum offers. Opened 14 years ago after a decade of planning, CMON quickly became a gathering space for families across Southwest Florida. Initial projections anticipated 70,000 visitors annually. “When the museum opened in 2012, we saw 167,000,” says Laura Bright, CMON’s chief advancement officer.
Photography by Christina Bankson
cmon naples fundraiser color factory popcorn bag
Expenses rose with attendance, but the museum remained committed to keeping admission accessible and expanding partnerships with nonprofits, like St. Matthew’s House and Grace Place. “If you look at us from the surface, we are the calm, placid duck swimming along—you don’t see the kicking underneath,” chief executive officer Jonathan Foerster says. He estimates he’d have to charge double if ticket prices reflected what it costs to operate. Night at the Museum fills the gap and supports expansions, including a new pre-K 3 and pre-K 4 early learning center, slated to open in 2026 for Collier County’s growing roster of young families.
Sustaining NAM’s electrifying momentum season to season requires constant reinvention. The choreography begins a year before the Ferraris and limos pull up to the red carpet. Once chairs are named, the night largely becomes theirs to shape. Unlike most large-scale fundraisers, which repeat a proven format, this one rebuilds annually. CMON sets financial guardrails for the night, but the chairs and their committees control the concept, room and execution. “This is an event that reflects their aura,” Laura, who manages the process, says.
Each year’s spectacle becomes the next gala’s baseline, as the committee pushes to top the last production and set new fundraising records. “Coming up with all these fun and amazing ideas to bring out the evening while staying in budget is always a challenge,” says Ashley, who watched her own children grow up with the museum. “The most important thing is ensuring funds go to the mission.” Chairs call in favors and negotiate rates to maximize production value. “They’re a driving force for not wanting to spend a dime more than we have to,” Laura adds. In recent years, the team moved away from booking Hollywood stars in favor of deepening the cinematic, transportive scene-setting.
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Photography by Anna Nguyen
cmon naples fundraiser color factory lily ustayev
Last year’s gala co-chair Lily Ustayev met the evening’s over-the-top fashion standard with a custom Dolce & Gabbana, Lichtenstein-inspired dress and matching knee-high boots.
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Photography by Anna Nguyen
cmon naples fundraiser color factory romero britto
Among the guests was neo-pop visual artist Romero Britto, who donated one of the evening’s top auction items—one of his original works and a private tour of his Miami studio. Lily, who secured Romero’s lot, says she seeks out experiences that feel attainable but wholly exclusive.
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Photography by Anna Nguyen
cmon naples fundraiser color factory table setting card
Everyone involved puts a premium on securing at least one new coup de théâtre for the event. The theatricality reached its peak in 2024, when Artistic Science built a 24-foot, two-story Barbie Dreamhouse, complete with a DJ booth. Last year, eight LED walls, some more than 16 feet wide, served as moving art installations, with imagery created by Harmon’s Audio Visual and M & M Multimedia. To accommodate the screens, the stage had to run along the length of the tent rather than anchoring one end, a happy accident that made the layout feel more intimate. Another moment of pageantry came from the St. Barts-inspired bottle service. Throughout the evening, guests could donate $1,000 to get a bottle of Dom Pérignon delivered to their table by mod go-go dancers from Pzazz Productions, with sparklers and pomp. Laura says the 30 magnums flew out of coolers.
This year’s co-chairs, Shera and Casey Askar, along with honorary chair Ann Scott, are staging the tent as a circus ring for Cirque du CMON on March 7. Shera is excited for this novel approach: a round stage in the center with tables radiating outward. Other showstopping touches will include Cirque du Soleil aerialists performing overhead as desserts spin on mini Ferris wheels at each table.
It may sound impossible to pull off on a nonprofit budget, but Jonathan holds to what’s become NAM’s guiding mantra—you need to spend money to make money. Motivated by the power of unstructured play and imagination, patrons can’t help but feel the need to make this resource accessible to every Collier County child. By 11 p.m. when security’s turning on the lights and we’re begrudgingly leaving the dance floor, this year’s spectacle will have surely done its job: securing the future of a place for toddlers and schoolchildren to climb, touch and imagine being everything they want to be.
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Photography by Anna Nguyen
cmon naples fundraiser color factory ashley gerry cochair
Ashley Gerry, who has served as co-chair for the two most recent galas, came up with The Color Factory idea while looking through photos of her daughter Aniston’s “Ani Warhol” 4th birthday party. “The colors of pop art and the playfulness were a perfect fit,” she says.
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Photography by Anna Nguyen
cmon naples fundraiser color factory patrons seated