On a shimmering November evening at the Rosewood Miramar Resort in Montecito, art, music, and philanthropy came together under a single, luminous intention: “Reconnecting With Your Inner Child.” This was HEAVEN 2025, The Art of Elysium’s iconic gala and one-night-only immersive art experience in support of their powerful, community-centered art programs.
This year, the Thomson family—through the Thomson Global Impact Fund—had the honor of serving as Lead Sponsor for HEAVEN, standing in heartfelt partnership with The Art of Elysium to uplift creativity, healing, and hope.
Why The Art of Elysium Matters to the Thomson’s
For over two decades, The Art of Elysium has been devoted to bringing artists and communities together—offering programs in visual arts, fashion and design, film and theater, music and movement, and arts-based self-esteem to children and families facing serious challenges.
For more than 17 years, Ragan has walked beside The Art of Elysium, serving on the board and supporting the evolution of its mission from the early days—helping steward key initiatives and creative expansions as the organization has grown.
These aren’t just “feel-good” activities. They are intentional, soul-centered spaces where creativity becomes medicine: a way to feel seen, to process grief and trauma, to remember joy, and to reclaim the parts of ourselves that still know how to play.
The Thomson Global Impact Fund exists to invest in exactly this kind of transformational work—initiatives that don’t just relieve symptoms, but restore dignity, imagination, and possibility. Supporting The Art of Elysium, and stepping forward as Lead Sponsor of HEAVEN 2025, is a natural extension of the Thomson family’s commitment to healing, creativity, and conscious service on the planet.
A Family Standing for the Inner Child
On the night of the gala, Ragan Thomson arrived at HEAVEN with her husband and their four children—an embodiment of the very theme of the evening. This wasn’t just a black-tie event for them; it was a family offering.
Ragan didn’t come simply to “attend” a gala. She came to set the tone.
As guests and donors flowed into the Miramar ballroom, many were carrying the quiet weight of adult life: responsibilities, deadlines, roles to play. Ragan’s presence and guidance helped open a different doorway. Through her words, intention, and energy, she invited everyone to soften, to breathe, and to remember the younger self within—the one who still knows how to trust, giggle, and dream without limitation.
In a space often associated with performance and appearances, Ragan gently disrupted the pattern. She helped the room drop into the heart, creating a field where giving didn’t come from obligation or status, but from genuine connection to the inner child—ours and the children served by The Art of Elysium.
A Night of Voice, Vulnerability & Song
One of the most poignant moments of the evening came when Ragan joined The Brothers Koren, Isaac and Thorald, in song.
The Brothers Koren are known for their profound work with the voice—as a portal, as a healing instrument, as a way to reclaim parts of ourselves we’ve silenced along the way. Together with them, Ragan stepped into a shared offering of music that was less “performance” and more prayer in motion.
Beyond the stage, Isaac and Thorald are co-founders of the Your Big Voice Foundation, a nonprofit devoted to liberating voices and expanding access to the transformative power of music, voice, songwriting, and self-reflective programs—especially for under served and marginalized communities. Through initiatives like their ONE VOICE benefit events, they use music as a tool for emotional and mental well-being, helping people of all ages remember that their voice matters.
As their voices intertwined with Ragan’s, the room was invited into something tender and rare:
- To hear with the ears of a child again.
- To feel without over analyzing.
- To receive sound as a blessing rather than a spectacle.
In that shared vibration, the message of the night became visceral: when we reconnect with our inner child, we don’t just remember joy—we remember each other. We remember why we are here. We remember that every child served by The Art of Elysium deserves the same sense of safety, wonder, and belonging.
HEAVEN as a Living Prayer
HEAVEN is not a typical gala. It is a living art installation, curated each year as a fully immersive experience that brings together filmmakers, musicians, designers, visual artists, and cultural visionaries—all in service to The Art of Elysium’s mission.
This year’s theme, “Reconnecting With Your Inner Child” invited guests to:
- Reflect on the moments in their own childhood when they felt the most free, loved, and creatively alive.
- Consider how art, music, and imagination shaped who they became.
- Recognize that countless children today are longing for that same sense of safety and creative expression.
For the Thomsons, this is where philanthropy becomes deeply personal. It’s not just about writing a check; it’s about participating in the prayer of the evening:
May every child have a space where they can play, create, and heal.
May art restore what life has tried to take.
May we, as adults, be brave enough to reconnect with our inner child—so we can show up with authenticity, generosity, and heart.
The Heart of the Thomson Global Impact Fund
The Thomson Global Impact Fund was created to channel resources toward catalytic change—supporting initiatives that uplift consciousness, protect the vulnerable, and build a more compassionate world for future generations.
Partnering with The Art of Elysium and standing as Lead Sponsor for HEAVEN 2025 is part of a larger vision:
- To amplify organizations that use creativity as a pathway to healing and empowerment.
- To bridge worlds: bringing philanthropists, artists, spiritual leaders, and families into shared spaces of transformation.
- To model a new kind of giving—one that is relational, heart-led, and rooted in lived values rather than optics.
By showing up as a family, by setting the energetic tone of the evening, and by lending her voice in song, Ragan and the Thomson’s demonstrated that philanthropy is most powerful when it is embodied.
A Continuing Commitment
As the night at HEAVEN 2025 came to a close, the echoes of laughter, music, and heartfelt conversation lingered in the air. But for the Thomson family and the Thomson Global Impact Fund, this evening is not a standalone chapter—it is part of an ongoing, evolving story of partnership and service.
The inner child within each of us is still calling:
for play, for safety, for expression, for love.
Through continued collaboration with The Art of Elysium, the Your Big Voice Foundation, and other aligned organizations, the Thomson Global Impact Fund is devoted to answering that call—not only in gala ballrooms, but in community centers, schools, and creative spaces where children and families are finding their way back to hope.
Because when we reconnect with our inner child, we don’t just heal ourselves.
We help heal the world our children will inherit.
“The Thomson Global Impact Fund is a philanthropic initiative of the Thomson family dedicated to supporting projects that heal, uplift, and awaken the human spirit.”