MALT Art Show

How can you bring the rolling hills of western Marin County into your living room while, at the same time, helping to protect them from development? By purchasing one of the landscape paintings at the Marin Agricultural Land Trust’s Art Show and Sale on Saturday, May 19 (2 p.m.-5 p.m.) and Sunday, May 20 (11 a.m.-5 p.m.) at Druid’s Hall in Nicasio. Titled “Ranches and Rolling Hills,” the show will benefit MALT’s farmland preservation program, which has protected nearly 30,000 acres of land from non-farm development. This is done through the acquisition of agricultural conservation easements that prohibit subdivision and non-agricultural use forever. Because farms make up 40 percent of the total acreage of Marin County and produce 20 percent of the Bay Area’s milk, this is vital work. Nearly 90,000 acres of farmland are still at risk, and protection will not come cheaply. The show will include works by Marin artists Ralph and Martha Borge, Willard Dixon, Susan Hall, Dana Hooper, and Zee Zee Mott, as well as 29 other nationally-known artists. The artists contribute 50 percent of all sales to MALT. Morning Light on Black Mountain, (pictured above), by Michael Drury, is one of the plein air paintings that will be for sale. For more information, call (415)663-1158.