The Deep Valley Arts Collective is a Mendocino County-based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that believes in the transformative power of making and experiencing art. Our mission is to create a culture that nurtures artists' development and success while contributing to the well-being of our community.
Board of Directors
Lillian Rubie
Lillian Rubie is a visual artist living in Ukiah, California. She is co-founder of Deep Valley Arts Collective and board member of the Arts Council of Mendocino County. Lillian moved to Mendocino County when she was ten years old, living in the remote hills outside of Laytonville. She was always drawing as a kid and developed a love of photography as a teen, developing film with her Dad in his makeshift darkroom. She moved to Ukiah in 2010 and shortly after opened a photo portrait studio, creating custom portraits in the Old Hollywood style. Lillian worked with the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in San Francisco, doing fashion photography for student magazine spread final projects. She had worked mostly in isolation or behind the scenes for years, but found a love of art as community through volunteering with efforts such as Draw Til You Drop and Pastels On The Plaza. This ignited a passion for communal art space and public art. She has a love of children’s books, costuming, vintage style, and all things Halloween.
Meredith Hudson
Meredith is a printmaker, writer and photographer from Ukiah, CA. Working primarily in letterpress and film photography, analog process is an integral part of her work and an emotional anchor to the innovative and technical nature of the mediums. An alumni of California College of the Arts in Oakland, Meredith has spent the last 10 years operating a commercial letterpress business and teaching printmaking workshops in the Bay Area and Mendocino County. Meredith is passionate about arts education, skill-sharing and studio space/exhibition opportunities in the community.
Chris Pugh
Chris Pugh is an award-winning editorial photographer from Ukiah, California. He is a member of the Partial Arts photography collective, founder of the Ukiah Photography Club, and co-founder of the Deep Valley Arts Collective.
In 2016, while working at the Ukiah Daily Journal, Chris took first place for a news photo in the Better Newspapers Contest held by the California Newspapers Publishers Association. Chris is currently the Editor in Chief of two weekly newspapers published on the Mendocino Coast.
In his personal work, Pugh draws inspiration from artists like William Eggleston and Stephen Shore and is focused on rural architecture, abandoned buildings, and forgotten subjects.
Outside of photography, Pugh is known for his love of loose leaf tea, locally brewed craft beer, 80's heavy metal music, and his fondness for useless trivia knowledge.