First Night Boston is pleased to announce that the work of artist Fay Chandler, who turned 89 in September, will be used in the design of this year’s First Night button, which will be unveiled in mid-November. She lives in Brighton, Massachusetts.

Chandler has had more than 30 solo art exhibitions. Her work appears in collections in the Danforth Museum, DeCordova Museum, Museum of Fine Arts, and the Chrysler Museum of Art. When she was 72, she founded The Art Connection, a Boston-based organization that facilitates the donation of works between artists and nonprofits such as schools and homeless shelters. The Art Connection has placed 300 artists’ 5000 original pieces in over 300 nonprofit organizations around Boston. Now in its second decade, the organization has become a model in other cities including New York and Washington, DC. In celebration of Fay’s 50-year career as an artist, a survey exhibition was presented at the Boston Center for The Arts Cyclorama in Fall 2010. Over 400 paintings and objects created by the artist over the past five decades were on view. Chandler’s paintings and three-dimensional objects made of “odds and ends” are whimsical, spiritual and feminist in their own way. Born in 1922 in Norfolk, Virginia, Chandler discovered art in her mid-thirties, following the birth of her fourth child. Her Southern heritage with its many constraints pushed her towards unconventionality. She has said of her works, “I rather liked the idea of challenging people, of doing something people wouldn’t expect.”

To learn more about Fay Chandler and her work, please visit http://www.faychandler.com/.

First Night Boston, the original citywide festival of art and culture, is the country’s oldest and largest New Year’s Eve celebration. On Saturday, December 31, 2011 from noon to midnight, First Night presents its 36th annual day-long festival of art, music, dance, ice sculpture, and more. First Night is a family-friendly event that welcomes revelers of all ages to celebrate community and unity through the arts.

In addition to being the ticket for admission to performances and exhibits throughout Boston on Dec. 31, the First Night button with Chandler’s image will be featured in all First Night collateral materials, such as print ads, posters, billboards, and MBTA car cards. For more than ten years, Boston’s WBZ-TV has been First Night’s exclusive television sponsor and as such features the button in promotional announcements. WBZ-TV News will have an exclusive series of news features about artists and community groups preparing for First Night in the weeks leading up to the event, and will broadcast live from several downtown locations on Dec. 31.

Artists and exhibitions appearing at First Night will be announced beginning after Labor Day.

All First Night outdoor events are free, though supported by sales of the First Night button, which is the ticket for admission to all indoor events. Buttons are $18 (children under 4 admitted free) and will be available at dozens of locations after Thanksgiving. For a complete list of advance sale locations or to buy buttons online, visit www.firstnight.org. Buttons are available at a special web price of $15 at www.firstnight.org/buy through Dec. 24.