Dedication
This year’s event is dedicated to the memory of artist Bill Wainwright, a noted sculptor, public art pioneer, artist mentor and community advocate. Bill died at the age of 87 on August 17 of this year.“Delight” is the word Clara Wainwright uses most often to describe her husband. “He was an incredibly creative person, using engineering skills,minimal materials, movement and light to create art that delighted everyone,” said Clara, also an artist and well known for her role in founding First Night. Bill has been a part of every First Night Festival since its inception in 1976. In the early years of First Night, he helped design installations. For two years, his enormous bird head with spinning silver eyes, suspended from a giant crane on City Hall Plaza, was the centerpiece of The Oracle. The sculpture welcomed revelers to ascend a staircase to ask their fortune. You can be sure they always got a unique answer! Each year, Bill and Clara joined an ever growing group of friends and family to form a tradition that still continues today and what is called the “Geometric Progression Band.” Donning colorful and creative costumes, the group has become a mainstay of the First Night Grand Procession. Each year, as they process down Boylston Street, they apply thousands of shiny silver stickers to the faces of many a surprised bystander, inviting them to join the Procession. At First Night, Bill always wore what one might call creative regal dress. A long and colorful cloak covered with dozens of First Night buttons from throughout the years and a jeweled whimsical crown on his head made him very easy to spot. With his longish gray beard and hair, it wasn’t unusual for revelers to ask to have their photo taken with the man they often called “Father Time.” Bill’s presence at First Night will be missed this year, but his incredibly creative and imaginative spirit will undoubtedly be felt in all of the art that surrounds us and makes up First Night.