Sharon Valentino’s service to the arts community includes as a Mill Valley Arts Commissioner for multiple terms between 2017 and 2026, reflecting a deep commitment to ensuring that the arts remain central to Mill Valley’s core identity. She has worked to advance public art policy and infrastructure in the city, helping to institute Mill Valley’s first formal public art policy. Public sculpture and innovative programs, such as the Art Box Initiative that transforms utility boxes into vibrant canvases, demonstrate her ability to merge art with accessibility.
2026
-
-
Brian Narelle
Brian Narelle, an Emmy-winning writer, actor, puppeteer and animator,has made a positive difference in the world with his films and television for children, which engage with sensitive subjects. As part of Korty Films, he wrote and animated “The Adventures of Thelma Thumb” on Sesame Street, and was supervising animator and sequence director on Korty/Lucasfilm’s Twice Upon a Time. He and his wife, Robin Goodrow, co-wrote and starred in the Discovery Channel’s children’s series “Bingo and Molly.”
-
Valerie Andrews
Valerie Andrews has enjoyed a long career as a journalist, magazine editor and workshop facilitator. Her visionary online magazine, Reinventing Home, evolved into the anthology Sanctuary: The Inner Life of Home, with an extraordinary group of contributors including Jean Shinoda Bolen, Mary Reynolds Thompson and Phil Cousinearu. Her most recent book, The Story of Home: Tales of Longing and Belonging, presents Valerie’s meditations on where and how we live, drawing on myth, politics and the personal.
-
Genna Panzarella
Genna Panzarella, a 50-year Mill Valley resident, is a multi-talented artist who specializes in chalk paintings on asphalt. Her brilliantly colored, elegant and precise “street canvases” in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Italy, Israel and Hong Kong have garnered awards and acclaim. For years, visitors to San Rafael’s Youth In Arts Street Painting Festival admired her artistry. Gary Yost’s video “Mountains Made of Chalk, Fall into the Sea, Eventually” features Genna as artist and narrator. She has inspired many young artists to explore their creativity and discover the beauty of her ephemeral art.
-
George Daly
Musician, songwriter and music producer George Daly’s work has shaped artists, advanced music technology and influenced the cultural landscape at national and local levels. Mill Valley has been his home and creative base for five decades. A quiet force behind the scenes in our music community, he has collaborated with and supported such local artists Marty Balin, The Rowan Brothers and Austin de Lone.