The Milley Award recipients are selected by a panel of judges from nominations received from the community, based on one or more of three criteria: Outstanding achievement in creating, performing or teaching in the arts; Demonstration of a significant body of work; Service to the arts community. This year the judges were Donna Seager, owner of Seager Gray
Gallery; Debbie Mills, retired City of Mill Valley Finance Director; Jacques Leslie, author and journalist and previous Milley recipient; Tony Angelo, musician and previous Milley recipient; and Sara Pearson, Mountain Play Executive Director.
Milley’s 23rd annual gala, produced by a volunteer board under the auspices of the Mill Valley Art Commission, is set for October 22 at 6pm at the Community Center, with Marin Theatre Company Artistic Director Jasson Minadakis serving as host. Tickets are $72 and go on sale in September. The following standouts will be honored:
Gini Wilson, Musical Arts

As a private piano instructor, Wilson has influenced hundreds of young musicians from her home studio in Tam Valley, where she and her husband have lived for 30 years. Check out Wilson performing "Oblivion" at the San Jose Jazz Festival in 2008:
Lisa Kristine, Visual Arts & Design

For the past 30 years, Kristine has traveled the world documenting the lives and cultures of indigenous peoples in more than 100 countries on six continents. She has gained broad recognition for illuminating modern-day slavery. She was the subject of four documentaries and
was the inspiration for a character played by Gillian Anderson in the movie Sold, directed by fellow Mill Valleyan Jeffrey D. Brown. Watch her TED Talk below:
Thacher Hurd, Literary Arts

The son of Edith and Clement Hurd, themselves a prolific children’s book author and illustrator team, Thacher has written and illustrated more than 25 books for children, and has illustrated many others. He writes from a kid's point of view, and children easily identify with his characters (often animals) who are exploring their world and discovering who they are in it. His language has rhythm and musicality, and his drawings are fluid and full of color.
Gary Yost, Performing & Visual Arts

Yost, in support of One Tam and the restoration of West Peak, which was leveled to create an Air Force lookout station during the Cold War, has been the driving force behind the award-winning film series, The Invisible Peak. It's been a selection at 16 film festivals and shown on PBS stations.
John & Winifred MacLeod, Community Contributions

The magazine started in Mill Valley as the Mill Valley School Record, before expanding countywide and becoming FastForward. FastForward won the Golden Bell Award from the California School Boards Foundation and has been featured on CNN. The MacLeods have lived in Mill Valley for more than 25 years.
Don Hunter, Sali Lieberman Award

Under Hunter's tenure, the city also created Bayfront Park and Skate Park, renovated the Depot and Lytton Square, and remodeled the Mill Valley Library. While City Manager, Mill Valley was named by Money magazine as one of the Ten Best Places to Live in the U.S.