-- Jessel Gallery is celebrating more than 40 years in Napa Valley, a milestone that coincides with founder and artist Jessel Miller’s efforts to revive the Napa Valley Mustard Celebration and expand the community-based Napa Peace Project.
Founded by Miller in 1984, Jessel Gallery began in three rooms of a former whiskey distillery on Atlas Peak Road. Over the decades, Miller expanded the gallery throughout the historic building, developing a space for exhibitions, art classes, workshops, and community programming.
The gallery’s history in Napa Valley followed Miller’s earlier emergence as a portrait artist. In 1980, she presented a one-person exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art featuring watercolor portraits of Bay Area figures. The exhibition preceded her move to Napa Valley and the establishment of Jessel Gallery four years later.
Since its founding, the gallery has developed beyond an exhibition space to incorporate education and community activities. Miller has continued to teach painting and provide opportunities for people of different ages and experience levels to engage with art.
“People come here to paint, to heal, to laugh, to learn, and to feel at home,” Miller says. “Over four decades, the gallery has become a place where strangers become friends and creativity becomes community.”
The milestone comes as Miller works to bring back the Napa Valley Mustard Celebration, a regional event associated with Napa Valley’s mustard bloom season. Miller was involved with the original celebration and is now helping lead efforts to reestablish the event.
The revived celebration is intended to bring together elements of Napa Valley’s agricultural, artistic, and cultural communities, including artists, wineries, musicians, and local residents. The event also reflects Miller’s broader interest in connecting creative activity with the region’s identity and history.
“Reviving the Mustard Celebration is a way to honor Napa’s past while inspiring its future,” Miller says. “It’s about reconnecting people to the beauty and creativity that define this valley.”
Miller’s community work also includes the Napa Peace Project, an initiative centered on the question, ‘What brings people peace?’ The project has developed through writing and visual art and is now extending into music.
As part of that expansion, Miller has collaborated with composer and multi-instrumentalist Don Schiff on the Napa Peace Album. The project brings together original music inspired by Napa Valley and broader themes of peace, connection, and reflection. Its first release, ‘Napa Peace,’ is available for streaming.
“Music opened a new door for me,” Miller says. “It’s another way to bring people together and another way to share beauty, healing, and connection.”
The Napa Peace Project and the Mustard Celebration revival represent extensions of the community-oriented approach that has characterized Miller’s work in Napa Valley. Through the gallery, educational programming, cultural events, and creative collaborations, she has continued to use art as a means of bringing people together.
Today, Jessel Gallery continues to host exhibitions, classes, workshops, and other community activities. The gallery’s programming reflects Miller's longstanding interest in making creative experiences accessible beyond a traditional gallery setting.
More than four decades after opening its doors, Jessel Gallery remains under Miller’s direction as she develops new projects while continuing the gallery’s established role in Napa Valley's creative community.
“Jessel Gallery is more than an art gallery,” Miller says. “It’s a sanctuary, a place where art becomes connection, and connection becomes community.”
Contact Info:
Name: Jessel Miller
Email: Send Email
Organization: Jessel Gallery
Website: https://www.jesselgallery.com/
Release ID: 89202824
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