Press Release

MALT Announces 15th Anniversary Ranches & Rolling Hills Landscape Art Show and Sale

February 28, 2012

Pt. Reyes Station, Calif. – Marin Agricultural Land Trust (MALT) is presenting its 15th annual Ranches & Rolling Hills Landscape Art Show and Sale to benefit farmland preservation this May 19 and 20. Since its inception, the weekend-long celebration of paintings depicting the West Marin countryside has raised more than $1 million to protect working farms and ranches. Many of the artists, such as Christin Coy, have participated in the art show year after year.

“I am proud to be a part of Ranches & Rolling Hills knowing that I can make a difference with the work I do as an artist,” says Coy.

Ranches & Rolling Hills is held at Druid’s Hall, located in the quaint, historic West Marin town of Nicasio. It opens on Saturday, May 19 at 11 a.m. with a preview event and artist reception that includes first viewing of the artwork followed by a local, organic, farm-to-table lunch. Tickets for this event are $150. The preview is followed by a free, afternoon opening for the general public from 2 p.m.-5p.m. The Sunday show is open from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and is also admission free and open to the public.

“Supporting MALT is essential for preserving ranches that may otherwise become divided and developed, left fallow, or sold as large-scale private estates,” says longtime Ranches & Rolling Hills artist Dana Hooper. “Witnessing the loss of many picturesque Marin ranches in my lifetime has been a catalyst for my participation.”Tom Wood, one of the show’s original artists, says the preservation of farmland also preserves an important source of artistic inspiration.

“What sustains me as an artist-clean air, unspoiled farmland, natural vistas-is also the setting in which small scale agriculture thrives,” says Wood. “I continue to paint for MALT because a painting of a dairy, say, may not only be appreciated as a work of art but may also increase public awareness of where our food comes from, its natural open-space context, and the important relationship of farm families to the larger community.”

For the 15th anniversary, 40 acclaimed artists from Marin County and Santa Barbara’s Oak Group will fan out across MALT-protected lands to capture on canvas many of the farms, ranches, livestock, hills, and waterways that compose West Marin’s pastoral landscape. The area remains much the same as it did when farmers and ranchers settled it 150 years ago, due in large part to MALT’s farmland saving work. Moore Ranch is one of the MALT-protected ranches that hosts artists each year.

“We enjoy sharing the beauty of West Marin through the works of art that are created on our ranch,” says landowner Margaret Moore. “We are thrilled that this collaboration supports the dream of protecting ranch land from development. What better way to show that this land is worth saving than through the tradition of art.”

To learn more about MALT’s Ranches & Rolling Hills Landscape Art Show and Sale, visit www.malt.org or call 415.663.1158.

About MALT: Marin Agricultural Land Trust is a member-supported nonprofit organization created in 1980 to permanently preserve Marin County farmland. Some of the Bay Area’s most highly acclaimed dairy and meat products and organic crops are produced on farmland protected by MALT conservation agreements, which total more than 44,100 acres on 68 family farms and ranches. To learn more about MALT, visit www.malt.org. MALT thanks Ranches and Rolling Hills business partners Autodesk, Edible Marin & Wine Country, Cowgirl Creamery, Marin French Cheese Company, Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company, Nicasio Valley Cheese Company, Three Twins Ice Cream, and United Markets Grocery for their generous support.

CONTACT: Deirdre Holbrook, Director of Outreach and Communications, (415) 663-1158 ext. 315, dholbrook@malt.org