First Night Awards

"All awards are presented by First Night International at their annual conference, and are judged by teams of professionals in the various categories."

1. Creative Program Award, 1998

This award recognized the Community Resolution Quilt, a year-long project by First Night Harrisonburg and the Virginia Quilt Museum. The award panel cited the infusing of a traditional art form with contemporary meaning through the unique realization of a New Year's resolution sculpture and the creation of a museum-quality quilt as a legacy. The quilt is on display each First Night, either at the Museum or at Massanutten Regional Library.

2. Second Place, Button Design Award, 2000

This award-winning button was designed by Rockingham County resident Donna Clark, in partial fulfillment of requirements for a master's degree in graphic arts at Mary Baldwin College. The button (and its companion poster) feature a sunrise over Massanutten Mountain and the numerals "2000" in stars, to mark the beginning of the new millennium.

3. Second Place, Poster Design Award, 2003

Harrisonburg resident Jaye Brumfield, of The Hatchery Design Company, designed this poster, which presents First Night in a humorous vein with a vibrating alarm clock topped by a party hat.

4. First Place and Winner of the Zambelli Prism Award for Excellence, Button Design 2004. Second Place, Poster Design Award, 2004

The award-winning poster and button designs, created by Harrisonburg resident Scott Trobaugh, aptly caught the year's theme, "Open the Door to 2004". The award panel cited the use of bold and vibrant colors, and four different buttons with different but cohesive design elements.

5. Second place, Golden Shoestring Award, 2004

Awarded for inexpensive yet clever programming, the Golden Shoestring Awards, sponsored by Dixie Flag Company, are divided into two groups - those produced on budgets from $1-300 and those costing $301-600. First Night Harrisonburg was awarded second place in the latter category for its "Bank Building Birthday Party", celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Bank of America building on Court Square.

6. Third Place, Button Design Award, 2005

First Night® Harrisonburg's button design for 2005 won a third place award at the annual conference of First Night® International, held last week in DelRay Beach, Florida. Several members of the local First Night® board of directors were on hand to receive the certificate for creative design, awarded annually by Zambelli Fireworks and First Night® International.

Trudy L. Cole-Zielanski, Professor of Graphic Design and assistant director of JMU’s School of Art and Art History, created this year’s poster and button design for First Night® Harrisonburg. The winning button, florescent red and green on a black background, features a wizard character with magic wand pointing toward a lighted star. Submitted designs were judged by a panel of professional graphic artists based in Florida.