Community Connections

More than a one day event, First Night's partnerships go on throughout the year. First Night provides access to innovative programming, collaborates with cultural and educational partners, and offers a platform upon which to showcase talent of every kind. Here's a sample of this year's outreach experiences.

Arts-In-Motion

First Night celebrates the arts all through the year by providing access to innovative programming through collaborations with cultural and educational partners prior to and leading up to the festival. Then, ta-dah! on December 31st, culminating installations and performances are featured at the event.

Inspired by this year's theme of Whirled Class Arts, we sought out Christopher Fitch, whose career spans more than 20 years, to be First Night's visiting artist. Chris' work includes animation and industrial engineering, but it is his interactive sculpture made us whirl! With a long list of credits to his name, Chris' kinetic installations appear nationally in major museums, galleries and universities. His constructions are not only artistic masterpieces but practical lessons in physics and the transfer of energy. The intricate interplay of these principles will be the focus of student works.

After leading a full day professional development workshop with Worcester public school art teachers in early October, several teachers decided to give it a whirl, too. Chris continued his visits and added his expertise to the works created by students and teachers for your viewing pleasure today at the Worcester Art Museum!

With Special Thanks to the following teachers and their students:
Margaret Grasso ~ Burncoat High School
Jason Harthan ~ North High School
Stacy Lord ~ Worcester East Middle School

ImprovKids

The First Night tradition continues at the University Park Campus School where students work during the fall with Clark University coaches to hone their skills and show off their inventive, spontaneous, comedic timing in a performance at Mechanics Hall. Catch these rising stars with audience participation that contributes to the mayhem.