First Night Austin 2008

Image courtesy First Night Austin, by 2008 featured artist Alina Byoun

Now in its third year, First Night Austin will return to downtown on New Year's Eve. This massive public gathering, intended to ring in the new year through "art, ritual, and festivity," features visual and performing art projects by more than 60 Austin artists. This year's performances and installations will run from Congress Avenue to Cesar Chavez, including Auditorium Shores, City Hall, and the Second Street District. All events are free.

"A city of Austin's caliber simply must celebrate the New Year as a community," said Night Austin board president Albert Cantara. "We can think of no better way to do this than to ask our established and aspiring artists, performers, and musicians to use their creativity to awe and inspire us to set aside our differences and turn our attention to our common humanity with hope for the coming year."

First Night kicks off at 3pm with the Family Festival, including, among other activities, a "Digital Portraits Austin" project where attendees will be invited to have their photos taken and later edited by digital artists. The spectacular Grand Procession will run from 6:30 to 7:30 pm, featuring a wide assortment of giant puppets, art cars, stilt walkers, costumed dancers, masked musicians and more.

Map of First Night Austin street closures:
• Congress Avenue is closed between 7th Street and Cesar Chavez between 5:30 and 6:30 pm for the Grand Procession.
• 1st Street Bridge and the block of 2nd St., Lavaca, Guadalupe and Cesar Chavez around Austin City Hall will be closed between 2:00 pm and 1:00 am.

It's during the Evening Program, though, when First Night will shine the brightest. Organizers have commissioned an impressive list of video, music, performance, and art projects that run the gamut from avant-garde "video poetry" and African-Bazillian-Caribbean funk to a human-powered carnival and a massive collaborative chalk drawing. As before, everything will culminate with the Grand Finale Fireworks celebration over Lady Bird Lake at the stroke of midnight.

First Night 2008 Program [online] [pdf]
Event Map [online]

The Schedule

3-6pm		Family Festival
6:30-7:30pm		Grand Procession
7:45pm		Family Finale Fireworks
Midnight		Grand Finale Fireworks over Lady Bird Lake

After the jump, check out featured artists and installations.

Featured Installations and Artists

AT&T's "Digital Portraits Austin" – Adam Reese, Alan Klemp, Kevin Peake and Shannon Powers City Hall Plaza, SW Corner Tent 3-6pm, 8-11pm	The faces of Austin are beautiful. They are real. They are graphic. Have your photo taken and uploaded to a computer where digital artists will turn it into a beautiful portrait you can later download and share with family and friends.
"Roll-On/Roll Off" – Rebecca Ward CSC Parking Garage 200 W Cesar Chavez 3pm-Midnight	Sheets of color cascade down twenty-five feet from the ceiling of a loading dock and adhere to the floor, stretching twenty more feet until the rolls meet the next set of beams. Rows of hanging material create colored walls which form a maze-like structure that viewers can weave in and out of in this site-specific installation
"Bus Line Dance” – Cybil Gustafson City Hall 8:15-8:35pm	A performance and interactive celebration of movement: 5 dancers will use modern dance, a bus, and a life sized bus puppet to explore movement through time, place and community. Look for opportunities to learn the "Bus Line Dance" and join the team of 5 costumed bus riders in the culminating dance. Choreography by Cybil Gustafson with music by Christopher Brown.
“Golden Arm Trio Brass Band” City Hall Plaza, Headlining Stage 7:30-8pm	Helmed by award-winning composer Graham Reynolds, the Golden Arm Trio rocks New Orleans style but on original Reynolds compositions, some created and all arranged especially for First Night Austin 2008. Hear eleven of Austin’s top musicians assembled into one explosive band bring in the tail-end of the Grand Procession.
"H-E-B Presents Art Carts"Grand Procession 6:30-7:30pm	Local high school art students present large scale sculptures of American food staples, mimicking the techniques of Claus Oldenburg. The sculptures juxtapose grocery-related items with school mascots, nature themes, and other inspirations drawn from the daily life of students. With participation from Lanier High School, McCallun Fine Arts Academy, Reagan High School, Johnston International High School, and Bowie High School.
"Kwanzaa Can Sculpture" by Carla Nickerson City Hall Lobby	A large-scale installation made of canned goods provided by our community to benefit Caritas. Finished sculpture celebrates the Kwanzaa holiday and includes a Kinara (candleholder) and Mishumma Saba (seven candles).
“Everybody Ever” by Lisa Choinack CSC Front Entrance 7:30-8pm, 9:30-10pm	A primitive, multi-media performance involving activated installation, the artists approach the subjects of alienation, wonder, and love in the modern life with optimism and humor.
“Film Actions VI” by Luke Savisky Lady Bird Lake Midnight	A surprise spectacle (and highly experimental project) in concert with the grand finale fireworks.
“The Body Electric” - Moving Image Arts and Education W Hotel Temporary Building Façade, 200 Lavaca 8:30-9:30pm	Using abstract video images and the power of poetry, girl filmmakers explore their bodies and identities. The mixed media format of video poetry gives the girls the opportunity to engage in a vital and avant-garde art form while learning basic skills in digital technology and communication. The project is part of an on-going collaboration between Femme Film Texas and the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders.
“Ultimate Pulse” by Legge Lewis Legge Auditorium Shores	A suspended landscape environment fabricated from approximately 1000 – 11” diameter “flashlight” internally illuminated disks. This pulsing disk skin will hang from a temporary tensile or scaffold armature allowing visitors to pass underneath and around it. Upon completion of the project, the fabric will be dismantled and the discs will be donated to children’s shelters around Texas.
"The Leash: A Psychedelic Western Operatta” by The Rude Mechanicals Under the First Street Bridge 8-8:30pm, 8:45-9:15pm	A western operatta in seven scenes including a mountain lion, a long-distance phone call, and a race between equal bloodhounds all tied together with a length of good rope.
“Peace Crane Project 2008” City Hall, Boards and Commissions Room Installation, 3-6pm Storytelling, 3-3:45pm, 4-4:35pm	A city-wide initiative, using theatre and art-making to explore the story of Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes. Over 3,000 young people as well as hundreds of community members will participate. Youth and parents from Mendez and Martin Middle Schools, and Hart, Barrington, and Langford Elementary Schools, will build spectacles for the Grand Procession. In addition, students from 27 campuses will create cranes for a month long installation at City Hall, community members will be invited to create cranes at HEB on December 1st, and interactive storytelling sessions will be held during the family festival. The project culminates by sending the thousands of cranes created to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, courtesy of, “Ultimate Pulse” – Lewis Legge. A suspended landscape environment fabricated from approximately 1000 – 11” diameter “flashlight” internally illuminated disks. This pulsing disk skin will hang from a temporary tensile or scaffold armature allowing visitors to pass underneath and around it. Upon completion of the project, the fabric will be dismantled and the discs will be donated to children’s shelters around Texas.
"Rockin' Grand Finale" by the Palm School Choir City Hall Plaza 10:45pm-Midnight	The Palm School Choir made up of 5th and 6th graders from the Palm community in southeast Austin and local rock musicians perform Wilco and Flaming Lips songs. The kids will not only sing but will also put on a light show to the sounds of loud, hard rock. Gavin Tabone, Artistic Director.