Once again fueled by a donation from the Mill Valley Chamber‘s Enjoy Mill Valley Fund, Bay Area artist Colin Selig installed another one of his Asymmetric Art Benches at 360 Miller Ave., just outside Pilates ProWorks. While the design is similar to Selig’s bench on Evergreen and Miller avenues outside Whole Foods Market, this bench looks to be a conversation starter: the two piece art bench invites for face-to-face dialogue.
Selig creates public art from recycled propane tanks, exploring the boundary between sculpture and sustainable design. This latest bench installation comes on the heels of a pair of public art benches installed in town earlier this year. The first of the so-called Art Benches in Mill Valley, part of the City’s public art program is called Art in Public Places, was Big Wave Bench, the creation of longtime of Bolinas artist and arborist-turned sculptor Chuck Oakander. The arrival of Big Wave Bench came courtesy a successful grant proposal to the Outdoor Art Club. Oakander’s bench was installed in Old Mill Park, just opposite the Old Mill. Another Big Wave Bench is on the way in Old Mill Park. The second bench came from Selig.
Those benches were followed up in July when Jed and Sherry Bullard, whose father and grandfather stood guard in 1957 to “save the downtown clock” in downtown Mill Valley, heard that the clock had been restored in 2017 via the Outdoor Art Club‘s $11,000 grant to the Mill Valley Chamber‘s Enjoy Mill Valley Fund and was so overjoyed that they donated $5,000 to the EMV Fund. That led to the installation of a gorgeous redwood bench just outside City Hall.