The acclaimed Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival turns 60 this year, and as we get closer to its opening at Old Mill Park on Sept. 17-18, one of the artists most synonymous with the festival and its community is set to discuss its history.

At a Mill Valley Library First Wednesday event on Sept. 7 at the Mill Valley Library, Tom Killion, the Tam High grad who first exhibited his wood cut prints at MVFAF at the age of 16 in the late 1960s – and has exhibited and served on the festival’s board and committee on and off ever since – will discuss the festival’s vast history.

Killion, who created MVFAF’s 60th Anniversary poster, “Mill Valley Lumber,” (above, center) a view from Miller Avenue in Mill Valley on a wet November evening as the last light hits Tamalpais’ East Peak, will explore “the lively artistic culture in Mill Valley during the 1950s and 60s that gave birth to the arts festival and nurtured his own artistic development, especially his early forays into landscape printmaking.”

“I have been doing the Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival since the late 1960s, and have always loved its wonderful redwood setting, its community feeling, and the opportunity to catch-up with so many old friends and neighbors from years past and present. It is a truly magical event, far more interesting than the usual outdoor show, as one might expect from Mill Valley,” Killion says.

Working from his studio on Inverness Ridge in West Marin, Killion now produces Japanese-style woodcut prints of California’s diverse landscapes and books that integrate visual art with poetry and history, including most recently “California’s Wild Edge” (2015), co-authored with poet Gary Snyder. The book received a Gold Medal from the prestigious California Book Awards.

The 411: Tom Killion discuss the history of the Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival at the Mill Valley Library on Wednesday, September 7, 7pm. Registration highly recommended. Click here to register. MORE INFO.


Want to know what’s happening around town? Click here to subscribe to the Enjoy Mill Valley Blog by Email!