Images of musicians and dancers are popping up around the local area as publicity for First Night Monterey. The artwork was produced by CSU Monterey Bay student Carly Allen, the result of a partnership between the university and the event’s organizers.

Since 2004, First Night has worked with students in Professor Bobbi Long’s design class to develop the art that goes into the buttons, posters and on the Web to promote the annual New Year’s Eve festival.

“The theme this year is Art Connecting Communities,” Allen said. “I wanted to approach it in a bit more of a literal sense, and Bobbi helped steer me toward the idea of using actual figures to represent the arts.” Allen, a third-year student from Walnut Creek, is studying in Gjøvik, Norway, this semester. After graduation, she hopes to return there to pursue a master’s degree in interaction design. She’s partially self-taught in the language, and is taking classes primarily in Norwegian. According to its website, First Night Monterey seeks to foster the public's appreciation of visual and performing arts through an innovative, diverse and high-quality program which provides a shared cultural experience accessible and affordable to all.

The centerpiece of First Night Monterey is its alcohol-free celebration on New Year's Eve in downtown Monterey. It has been held annually since 1993.

(Photo taken in Oslo, Norway. Courtesy of Carly Allen)

Published Dec. 2, 2015