For earlier editions, an admission button was both a practical pass and an original artwork. It offered a small keepsake of a shared evening.
The admission-button traditionThe year on the button
First Night names the year being welcomed. A button marked 2016 belongs to December 31, 2015; a button marked 2017 belongs to December 31, 2016. Keeping both dates visible avoids turning a historic artwork into a current ticket.
Three artists, three editions
- 2015 — Lawrence A. Walker. Documented in Downtown Akron Partnership’s 2013–2014 annual report.
- 2016 — Don Drumm. The original website describes “The Phoenix Arising” for the 20th annual celebration.
- 2017 — April Couch. Documented in the 2016 annual report and quarterly newsletter.
These are historical objects, not buttons offered for sale. Admission arrangements for the returning edition are listed separately on the admission page.
Earlier artists in the collection
The original fifteen-year button collection preserves the artwork and artist credits for the 1997–2011 editions. Two institutional sources add context to that record.
2000 · Miller Horns
The Akron-Summit County Public Library’s Miller Horns Collection finding aid, processed in November 2024, identifies Horns as the designer of the 2000 button. Its inventory lists a First Night Akron Millennium print and a folder of First Night clippings and promotional materials. The physical collection is available by request at Main Library Special Collections; the items do not circulate.
2011 · Maria Alejandra Zanetta
The University of Akron’s Spring 2024 Modern Languages newsletter, page 8, credits Maria Alejandra Zanetta with the 2011 fifteenth-anniversary button. Read the original fifteenth-year celebration announcement for the historical programme context.
These records document earlier editions. They do not establish the artwork or admission arrangements for the returning festival.