Naked ladies. Reefer madness. Rebellious rock band memorabilia. These themes are not what one might expect at your typical museum, but Saturday night, for its Opening Weekend Celebration, the Oakland Museum of California made every effort to impress. Between the erotic art and provocative panels, Late Night at the OMCA was a sexapalooza, free of charge.

In the eighth hour of the museum's 31–hour party, the vibe changed from parades to pick-up lines. One man asked a woman at the wine bar if he could be her Facebook friend. Couples dressed for date night mingled with people who followed the museum's call to wear PJs. One couple donning "his and hers" terry cloth robes lined up for curator Inez Brooks-Meyers' "Sex, Drugs & Rock 'n' Roll" tour at 7 p.m.

A throng of slippered and high-heeled revelers followed Brooks-Meyers through California's storied sex history. With her neatly parted silver hair, green glasses frames and cheerful personality, Brooks-Meyers had the delivery of a Sex Ed teacher. She also showed tact when describing items like a drug once sold for "women's problems."

As Brooks-Meyers read the warning label, she explained its rationale: "The inserted pill would…interrupt gesticulation."

The tour was a sort of strip tease, beginning with a portrait of a 19-century lace model and finishing with a porn star in a 2010 chromogenic print. Beatniks and Panthers, magnates and hustlers—all these images lined the gallery walls.

"I've been at the Oakland Museum of California for 36 years and it has gone through many changes," she said. "And the fact is, each one is terrific."

The air had a charge even at 3 a.m., when hundreds milled in the museum's labyrinthine layout. The terry-cloth robed couple was last seen dippin' their hips with the Bollywood dancers and, in the wee hours, a professional matchmaker led love lessons in the art gallery.

Sexologist Dr. Carol Queen argued at her "Radical Creativity" panel that sex gets better over time. Couples curled up on white beanbag chairs while most of the audience made do with standing room only. Queen joined a flank of radical advocates from underground comic press Last Gasp and marijuana reps from Oaksterdam. She spoke to her history with the Good Vibrations sex shops, which started in San Francisco.

For her "CPR for Singles" workshop, Queen guided group members through frank discussions with neighboring strangers. In a tapered, scarlet red shawl and animated voice, she asked, "From what place do your sexual fantasies come?"

A woman who preferred to remain anonymous answered, "It would be the book Forever, by Judy Blume." A married mom of two daughters, she credited her mom with her own open-mindedness toward sex.

"The Bay Area is also a place where people are open to try new things," she said.

When Queen's mic temporarily failed, she leaned in to say, "You don't want that to happen to your vibrator."

Check back with Oakland Local for daily stories and photographs about various aspects of the museum relaunch. See the audio slide show here. See the flickr set here.

And if you're planning to attend the party, tweet about it with #OMCA or see what other people are saying about it. Follow the Oakland Museum on twitter here.