ARTIST CELEBRATES COMPLETION OF MURAL
Genius: a person who has a remarkable level of talent or intelligence that is very rare —Merriam-webster.
Lauren Sinnott, an artist, historian and former politician who also loves western boots, gathered with a group of friends and families on the corner of West Clay and South Oak a week ago to celebrate the completion of her magnum opus—the 26-panel mural—ukiah Valley~past, Present & Future, A Historical Narrative.
Chosen in 2018 for this project, funded by local donations collected by Art Center Ukiah and a matching grant from the state of California administered by the Arts Council of Mendocino County, she began the project in May of 2018 and worked for six months painting the entire top part of the mural all along the wall: the architectural elements with the written words, the sky, the clouds and the distant mountains.
Taking a break for winter rains, she picked up her brushes and paints again and worked from May to November of 2019, creating fifteen of the twenty-six foreground scenes. After pausing for the winter and pandemic shelter-in-place orders in the spring of 2020, she began painting in June and continued into November. With a few more delays due to smoke-filled air, it is now complete.
Four years in the making, the mural is located on the north wall of the Ukiah Valley conference center and its subject is the history of this region. It begins with the time before human habitation, up through the millennia of rich Native culture, and then the arrival of European explorers , missionaries, ranchers and finally settlers.
“I represent the Native genocide and betrayal of treaties negotiated at the federal level. From there we march through the development of Ukiah and into a vision of the future. There are over 150 portraits and many of the subjects live here now,” she says.
Panel 26 is filled with 42 human portraits, mostly kids, and 2 dog portraits.
“At the very top right are the core values spiralling out from the rays of the sun— equality, tradition, vision, honesty, compassion, respect, peace and freedom—that are important to get to the positive future that we want.”
A group of folks represented in the panels over the years showed up to celebrate with Sinnott.
There’s Cord Phenicie who sits in the bottom middle of the final panel, smiling, in blue and white shorts and baseball cap, cradling a duck.
“My grandma and I were walking by and she asked Lauren if I could be in this panel. It was for my birthday,” he explains.
At the top is a landscape of trees, hills and valleys—pastel greens, blues, purples— meeting the ocean.
“I’m from Point Arena and I included the ocean because it’s so much a part of our
county,” she says.
There’s Circle Village. Each circle, containing 12 houses, 300 feet in diameter with houses on the perimeter and an access road that runs on the outside of the circle with entrances at the back door creating a great open space out the front door for kids and families in which to gather.
“The fronts of the houses have big windows and face into the interior of the circle so you feel like you have this great big front yard,” she says.
Alongside this creation is a more traditional housing element, more compact where people live and work within housing coops.
There’s a south facing hillside with small, affordable solar homes with big windows and solar panels that extend into the carport.
“If you stack them on a hillside, you’re not facing into your neighbor’s home.”
Laura Fogg’s 5 grandchildren are seen coming out of a Redwood forest. “Fogg was instrumental in getting the project going,” she says.
There’s a portrait of recently-retired Guardian, the search and rescue dog that works at the Sheriff’s office.
There’s Forrest and Elizabeth Moreno doing gymnastics.
There’s Valentine, a kid who loves maps, seen holding the blueprint for the future.
Many of the kids’ portraits are those who have come regularly to watch Sinnott paint the mural.
There’s Lee Mcclelland, nursing her baby; there’s Martin Martinez holding a bird’s wing doing ceremony; and there’s
the G5—city Mayor Juan Orozco; Mendocino College science teacher Chatnaree Upton; Coyote Valley Tribal Chair Michael Hunter; political activist Troyl Tugnoli; and Ukiah native Ian Morris.
There are 7 students from the South Valley High School Native Alliance; Elizabeth Macey’s three children who represent family love; and Colton and Cosette whose grandmother would bring them by regularly.
At the very bottom is the representation of healthy soil needed for nurturance.
“Everything needs a good strong foundation— caring for and not poisoning our soil—and the swirls and crisscrosses represent the network of mycelium, the fungal network that acts as a communication, the roadway for the plants, with mushrooms and plants coming up out of the ground.”
Janet Orth, present for the celebration, is seen charging her electric car in the panel called Innovation.
She started the regional electric zero emission vehicle planning work back in ’96 when she demonstrated all the electric vehicles that were on the market back then and has been involved with this effort for 30 years.
“Electrifying transportation is going mainstream; it’s huge right now. It’s in the Biden infrastructure bill with plans to put in 500,000 charging stations across the country.
“California, a leader, just made an historic investment; the Energy Commission dedicated 1.4 billion dollars for all things zero emission transportation. Over the next few years there is going to be a huge rollout of charging stations, incentives and work force training.
“The technology has matured; its time has come and it’s exciting to see it come to fruition; climate change is really driving this forward,” she says.
Sparkles Totten is there with her four-year-old Canadian Arctic Wolf, Heavenly Star, portrayed by Sinnott in the first panel called Nature, running with her mother in the top right of the scene.
CC Cinnamon, Totten’s Russian Timber Wolf, previously passed away, is also in the scene with wolves, elk, deer, bear, cougar, rabbits, bees, squirrel, woodpecker and butterflies.
Standing in front of the last panel, Sinnott explains that she will be designing 27 metal plaques (the last panel is a double) that Ross Liberty will manufacture as a donation and The City will have mounted on the columns.
Having accomplished her goal, it seems clear her work is done. But wait a minute. She points around the corner to the empty walls facing South Oak.
“Look at all this,” she says. “I do want to go around the corner. Next year.
This side I have completed is history and this side will be community. I want to do 4 more panels representing kindness, fun, business and service.”
For more information go to: www.historymural.com.