FIRST THINGS LAST So long 2011, hello CSUMB First Night Film Fest

First Night Monterey, the community New Year's Eve celebration, will offer the opportunity to catch the work of filmmakers who studied at CSU Monterey Bay's Teledramatic Arts and Technology program.

Amid family-friendly art workshops, music – classical to jazz, blues to rock, hip-hop to folk – and the pageantry and puppetry of the Twilight Procession parade, is the CSUMB First Night Film Fest. Starting at 3:30 p.m. in the Museum of Monterey – formerly the Maritime Museum – nine short films will be screened. They include documentaries, animation and narratives. A lising of the films to be screened can be found here.

More than 70 performances are scheduled at 20 venues and locales across the city from 3 p.m. to midnight. Admission buttons are required for all indoor events. Adult prices are $20 in advance and $25 on Dec. 31; youth prices are $12 and $15. Tickets are available at a variety of locations around town and on the First Night website.

First Night Monterey, now in its 19th year, is an alcohol-free New Year’s Eve community arts celebration designed for all ages. Musicians, dancers, singers, poets and other artisans transform the streets of the city into a festive setting. FNM is a nonprofit arts organization whose mission is to bring families together and unite the community in all its diversity through the visual and performing arts.

A complete schedule is available here.

The film fest isn't CSUMB's only contribution to First Night.

Artwork by senior Raissa Figueroa graces the marketing materials for the event – the result of a longstanding relationship between the university and the event’s organizers. This year’s theme is “A FantaSea of Art."

Members of Professor Bobbi Long’s Publications Design course have been designing the poster and button for First Night Monterey since 2003.

“These projects give students real-world experience of working with a client and progressing through various stages of the design process,” Professor Long said.

Publication Design is not an art class "where students just have a muse. We teach them the actual design process. In design, you have to listen to your client, who tells you their needs and their ideas, and you interpret that," she said.

"This program gives students a chance to show their talents, skills, and creativity, but it also teaches them how to listen and respond to what they hear, as well as how to manage a project."

Learn more about the Teledramatic Arts and Technology program here.

Learn more about the communication design program here.