Jimmy Kimmel, Kristen Bell and Bill Hader help raise more than $200,000 for Hammer Museum K.A.M.P.
Jimmy Kimmel, left, Billy Kimmel, Jane Kimmel and Molly McNearney attend the annual Hammer Museum K.A.M.P. (Kids' Art Museum Project) at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles on Sunday.
(Stefanie Keenan / Getty Images for Hammer Museum)
By Ellen Olivier
Standing beside artist Rosson Crow's table of collage materials in the Hammer Museum's courtyard, actor Bill Hader watched over his three daughters as they assembled their artwork at the museum's ninth K.A.M.P. (Kids' Art Museum Project).
As one of the day's storybook readers, the "Saturday Night Live" alum was ready to read to a room filled with youngsters. Hader said he chose "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus" by Mo Willems "because that's the book my kids like, and they get into it. It's a whole response thing." He then added, "It can be a hit or a miss. Sometimes kids shout back at you when you read the story, and sometimes I've played to total silence." (More about that below.)
Kristen Bell, left, Sarah McHale and Brooke Kanter attend the Hammer Museum K.A.M.P. at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles on Sunday. Stefanie Keenan / Getty Images for Hammer Museum
A fundraiser for the Hammer Kids programs, K.A.M.P. at the Hammer Museum in Westwood offered a dozen hands-on workshops, taught by artists in a variety of disciplines including painters, sculptors, designers, architects and dancers. Celebrities read from storybooks. DJ Nu-Mark and Just Buzz provided music, and Tender Greens served up sandwiches, salads, veggies and desserts.
Kathryn Hahn reads to children at the Hammer Museum K.A.M.P. Getty Images for Hammer Museum
Hader ("Barry"), Kristen Bell ("The Good Place"), Jimmy Kimmel ("Jimmy Kimmel Live!"), Kathryn Hahn ("Bad Moms") and Adam Scott ("Parks and Recreation") performed the readings, while Rosson Crow, Jennifer Guidi, Chad Muska, Analia Saban, Edgar Arceneaux, Clare Crespo, Becky Kolsrud, Dean Spunt, Kulapat Yantrasast, Lazaros and JPW3 presided over the art tables. Brooke Kanter and Sarah McHale served as co-chairs, and museum director Ann Philbin was on hand to welcome guests.
Armie Hammer and Elizabeth Chambers with son Ford Hammer and daughter Harper Hammer attend the Hammer Museum K.A.M.P. Getty Images for Hammer Museum
In the courtyard, Guidi instructed children on how to make mandalas. Muska had a skateboard-painting workshop, and L.A. Dance Project taught dance steps. On the balcony, Saban gave lessons in weaving on a loom emblazoned with "Keanu Weaves," "Orlando Loom" and in a nod to Kimmel's signature phrase, "Weave Don't Have Time for Matt Damon." Those were just a few of the activities.
Shortly after arriving, Joel McHale ("Community") caught up with Kimmel before Kimmel read "The Day the Crayons Quit" by Drew Daywalt, a book, the talk show host said, that was "about crayons in a box and their petty jealousies. It's a very smart book."
McHale said he'd come with his 10- and 13-year-old sons. "I think they went straight to the skateboards," he said.
In the storybook room, Scott read "Knuffle Bunny Free: An Unexpected Diversion" by Mo Willems, while Bell read "Quackenstein Hatches a Family" by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen, which she called her favorite book. "It's a beautiful metaphor for acceptance of the other and of foster care and adoption," she said earlier in the day. "I love this book so much. It's really special to me."
Not far from the entry, as Kanter was explaining how she originally conceived the fundraiser as a way to engage her young daughters in art, Armie Hammer ("Call Me by Your Name") and wife Elizabeth Chambers ambled in with their two children, daughter Harper, 4, and son Ford, 16 months old.
"We break them in young," Hammer joked. "We're getting them started early."
After having read her own book, "My Wish for You," scheduled for publication in September, Hahn said, "This is an amazing event." She said the book had been a collaboration with her daughter Mae, 8, about "what it means to be a woman, an autonomous woman with her own voice, who's not afraid to say what she feels."
And during Hader's turn in the storybook room, his young audience shouted to stop the pigeon from driving the bus. It was an endearing family scene that's a far cry from his HBO show, in which Hader plays a hit man hoping to trade in his guns for an acting career.
"It's funny," Hader said. "So many people think our TV show is inspired by other TV shows [or movies]," naming "Dexter" and "Grosse Pointe Blank" as titles people have suggested. However, he said he gets his inspiration from books. That's why, he said, his character's stage name is Barry Block. "It's a shout-out to [crime writer] Lawrence Block."
Jimmy Kimmel reads to children during the Hammer Museum K.A.M.P. Getty Images for Hammer Museum
Counting tickets priced from $150 each for a total of 950 adults and children, the event raised more than $200,000 for programs that serve more than 60,000 children and their families each year.
Please consider subscribing today to support stories like this one. Get full access to our signature journalism for just 99 cents for the first four weeks. Already a subscriber? Your support makes our work possible. Thank you.
image@latimes.com
For fashion news, follow us at @latimesimage on Twitter.