Come On Down
December 31, 2003

So there we were downtown at the Pit, our nickname for the hole in the ground that used to be the basement of the old Bookshop Santa Cruz. Huddled under a wooden footbridge between Pacific Avenue and Oswald in the cobblestone courtyard, the Pit is now the site of renegade art projects of all kinds. Darryl Ferrucci's life-size cut-out dancing figures gyrate high on the brick wall of Lulu Carpenter's overlooking the Pit, and guerilla murals adorn the walls below street level.

On this chilly afternoon, I was standing on the footbridge feeling nostalgic, just a few feet above where I once worked in the basement textbook room in the old BSC. But I was there for something completely different today, with a few odd things lined up on the rail before me: four tealight candles nestled in sand in plastic containers cut from the bottoms of drinking water bottles. Art Boy stood down in the Pit with a wooden A-frame. Between us were two lengths of fishline. Our object was to get the little plastic carriages holding the candles to slide down the fishline from the rail to the A-frame.

Art Boy had the whole thing worked out in his fertile brain, but getting it to work in practice was another matter. One candle carriage was too heavy and bogged to a standstill halfway down the line. One was too light to descend and no amount of nudging could speed it on its way. Two slid majestically downward, but there was trouble with the dismount; the carriage would slam into the A-frame and slip its cables, and candle and sand went flying. We tried lengthening, then knotting the fishline. Finally, Art Boy weighted down the line to bricks on the ground, creating a level plateau to slow the descent. This worked—about every other time.

And we hadn't even tried lighting the candles yet.

Our efforts did not go unnoticed. Pedestrians and bicyclists crossing the bridge, and people hanging out in the courtyard, kept wandering over to see what we were up to. Without exception, they asked, "Is this some kind of art project?" That's what I love about Santa Cruz. Do anything remotely weird and people just assume it's art.

But ours wasn't exactly an art project. We were doing it for First Night.

Art Boy is one of the hardy volunteers who help to organize First Night, the family-oriented downtown New Years Eve celebration. Last year, the cupboard was so bare event organizers could only afford to stage the parade. But this year, a busy slate of visual and performing arts and kids' events will be available.

One project is the Candle Mandala, a idea executive director Blake Smith got from other First Night events around the country. Every participant lights a candle and makes a wish, and the lit candles are placed in a designated circle. Art Boy had the bright idea to use the giant circle of handprints some unknown artist has painted on the cement floor of the Pit. His next inspiration was to dream up a way to convey the lit candles from the participants on the bridge down to the manadala in the Pit. Just imagine: dark night, the partially completed circle of light in the Pit below as each newly lit candle containing its private wish, a tiny flame of hope, descends like magic into the darkness. What could be more cool? If only the carriages don't jump the line. If only the candles don't blow out. If only it doesn't rain. It's this element of unpredictability that makes First Night such a lively community event.

I confess, it took me years to attend a First Night celebration. In its early years, crowd size was always estimated at about 20,000, and my blood ran cold to think of going any place where I knew twenty-thousand other people were going to be. But in 2001, Art Boy was commissioned to do the First Night poster, so we went down to check it out. It was fun to get a close-up look at the giant, iconic sun and moon characters in the parade (created by local artist Thom Atkins), and to join an impromptu conga line after, dancing to taiko drumming from Walnut Avenue to Cooper Street. It was great to see so many friends on the sidelines.

This year's many indoor art and music venues are accessible to the public for the single $15 price of a First Night button. ($6 for kids age 6 to 18.) The theme is Movie Magic, beautifully captured in the witty poster art by John McKinley. In the Cooper Building Arcade you can go to ImageSnap and get a digital glam portrait of yourself festooned in Hollywood finery clutching an Oscar, or make your own movie star glasses. On the corner outside, kids can chalk stars on the sidewalk at the Hollywood Chalk of Fame. Outdoors, weather permitting, you'll find face-painting and accordionist Morgani (probably dressed as Oscar) playing movie tunes. (Fellini music is his specialty.) There'll be drumming, art cars, street magic, and the Candle Mandala. We hope. Come by tonight and see if we got it to work.