As we’ve been chronicling for the past couple of years, Mill Valley is having a certified, extended artistic moment.
That moment spans from micro to macro. The former is dominated by seemingly ubiquitous public art in the form of art boxes, art benches, celestial sculptures, free-standing doors in the Depot Plaza to promote racial justice, beautiful, thought-provoking murals of figures like Breonna Taylor and legendary Rep. John Lewis and actor Chadwick Boseman and the 2022 edition of the Arts Commission’s “Knitting Us Together” project.
You can expect to see a gorgeous, comprehensive guide to public art in the 94941 in our upcoming EMV Guide within the August issue of Marin Magazine, which will hit mailboxes in a few weeks.
Mill Valley’s arts and culture moment in the spotlight also features plenty of larger, macro developments. That includes a collective quartet of renowned local galleries – Seager/Gray Gallery, Desta Gallery, Kim Eagles-Smith Gallery and Robert Green Fine Arts – launching the Mill Valley Art Dealers Association to raise our community’s profile as an arts destination. That move has galvanized the local art dealer community, with some exciting news on the horizon.
That bounty of creativity continues this month as the Mill Valley Arts Commission serves up the latest edition of its “Rotating Art in the Depot Plaza,” a program as part the Art in Public Places initiative with the support of The Depot Cafe and Bookstore, and the Mill Valley Chamber. Through February 2023, the work of artists will be showcased in a rotating exhibition installed on the exterior wall of the Depot building, visible at the corner of Miller Avenue and Throckmorton Avenue. Valentin Popov was first up in 2021, and now it’s Kandi Cota‘s turn. Cota, a Larkspur-based artist best known for her modern expressionist style paintings, finds inspiration in local landscapes and the vibrant arts culture of Marin County. Her vibrant mixed media painting, perfectly named “All Roads Lead to the Depot,” colorfully captures the fluid emotions of a moment of time in Mill Valley and portrays the artist’s deep connection to the iconic Mount Tamalpais.
The oil, acrylic, and enamel on aluminum panel measures 96 x 48 inches and is love now. An artist’s reception is set for July 5, 5:30-7:30pm as part of the First Tuesday Artwalk.
Cota, a member of Marin Open Studios, has had her work featured at the “Novato Art, Wine and Music Festival” (June 2022) and “Art for Ukraine” (May 2022), an important group exhibition at the Sausalito Center for the Arts, organized by the Sausalito Art Festival with proceeds donated to UNICEF, the Red Cross, and World Central Kitchen, supporting relief for victims of war in Ukraine. Her art-inspired fashion collection titled, “SURF / SKI / SWIM / SCYCLE,” is highlighted in “Summer in Europe” the UK edition of Condé Nast Traveller (July/August 2022); her work was chosen for “Artistic Impressions” in World of Interiors (April/May 2022); and her artwork was included in “The Art Edit,” a selection of works presented in the UK edition of House & Garden (March 2022). MORE INFO ON KANDI COTA.
And we’re not even close to being done. There’s still a ton of landmark Mill Valley events on the horizon in 2022, particularly the Concerts in the Plaza Sept. 10-11, Fall Arts Fest Sept. 17-18 and the Mill Valley Film Festival Oct. 6-16.