Art, For Land's Sake

When you head out to Point Reyes during the next month for one of Wendy's summer hikes, you'll pass by thousands and thousands of acres of land that has been spared from development thanks to many factors: Land acquisition for federal and state parks, watersheds set aside to supply Marinities with water from local sources, and land protected from tiny lot subdivision by county zoning ordinances. But you'll also drive by 40,000 acres on 61 ranches and farms that will forever remain in agricultural use because of the efforts of the Marin Agricultural Land Trust. MALT, formed in 1980 by environmentalist Phyllis Faber (who celebrated her 80th birthday a while back) and the late Ellen Straus (her son, Albert, founded Straus Family Creamery, the first organic dairy producer west of the Mississippi River), purchases conservation easements on these properties and provides other forms of assistance to these owners in order to enable them, and the next generation of their families, to stay on the land and in the "ag" business.

If "the (Mountain) play's not the thing" for you this weekend, head out to Nicasio and catch MALT's 11th annual Ranches and Rolling Hills Art Show. The show features paintings (and some photographs) of the West Marin landscape by over 30 artists from Marin and the Santa Barbara area. Fifty percent of the sales of the work of these artists at the show goes to support MALT's mission of protecting farmland in Marin and the families who work to bring us locally grown food.

The art show is held at Druid's Hall (next to the village square and baseball field and right on the main road through the village) and is open to the public on Saturday, May 17th from 2:00 to 5:00 pm, and on Sunday, May 18th, from May 20th from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. Admission is free. Besides the art work, MALT merchandise (hats, T-shirts, note cards, etc.) will be on sale, along with the recently published book covering the first 10 years of the art show, Ranches & Rolling Hills, Art of West Marin— A Land in Trust. (Click here for more information on the art show from the MALT Web site).

(Dick Jordan will be tending bar during Saturday's preview luncheon --- sorry to say it is sold out --- before the show opens to the public. His wife, Cindy, works part-time for MALT and along with MALT's Associate Director, Elisabeth Ptak, plays a major role in putting on the show).