Napa Valley Mustard Celebration
Here’s to the season between the seasons, when Napa Valley welcomes you in with bold, vibrant color.
As the tale is told, the first mustard plants arrived in the 1800s when Jesuit priests scattered seeds throughout Napa Valley. Today, visitors from around the globe flock to our premier wine country destination to enjoy this early-blooming crop, which famously ushers in a new growing season and blankets Napa Valley in swaths of vibrant yellow from January to March.
This “season between seasons” may be Napa Valley’s best. Between sprinkles of rain, Mustard Season is a refreshing time to frolic al fresco, take in the scenery, and discover local color.
No matter where you turn, it’s easy to immerse yourself in 35 miles of artistic beauty, thanks to Napa Valley Mustard Celebration events running across Napa Valley, from Calistoga to American Canyon, all Mustard Season long.
From January to March 2025, the Napa Valley Mustard Celebration promises to be an amalgamation of sight, sound, touch, scent, and taste. Brought to life by longtime Napa resident, art gallery owner, and Mustard Season beacon Jessel Miller – in collaboration with valley-wide local artists – this year’s celebration will offer live art demonstrations, local merchant spotlights, specialty food events, art-in-winery exhibits, dance parties, film screenings, art walks, and more. Get ready to experience Napa Valley’s creative “wow factor” on full display.
TOWN-BY-TOWN EVENT LISTINGS
Known as the “gateway to Napa Valley,” the town of American Canyon will feature fun, outdoor, and family-friendly activities throughout the Mustard Season, including a day of wine tasting, art vendors and music.
The downtown area is a hub for art and galleries. It features the Napa ArtWalk, the Rail Arts District, and many galleries and showrooms to explore, including Art Gallery Napa Valley. The esteemed local shop, which features the work of 50+ artists, will highlight mustard flower-themed artworks in March – by many of the local artists featured in the gallery.
Join Eppich Arts and Napa hotels and inns for Art Around Napa – a season-worthy arts exploration. Block your weekend calendar to explore featured artists and artworks in downtown galleries, tasting rooms, hotels, and retailers February 22nd and 23rd, and head to the Historic Clinton District for an evening Artist & Community Party on February 22nd.
The Jessel Gallery will be celebrating both the opening weekend of the Atlas Peak Napa Valley Mustard Celebration and the gallery’s 40th anniversary with a dance party on February 1st. Featuring the Darryl Rowe Quartet, the event promises to be an evening of fantastic music and dancing. On February 2nd, the gallery will host branded vendors sampling their products, and a show of honorable mention artists – plus 10 of Jessel’s students – showcasing art made in tribute to Napa Valley’s magical mustard season.
On March 1st and 2nd, Jessel Gallery will host a “Demonstration Day” with on-site working artists, including featured artist Jessel Miller, who painted the iconic emblematic image that commemorates the 2025 Mustard Celebration.
The Mustard Celebration Signature Event, held at CIA at Copia from March 29th through 30th, will be the highlight of 2025’s Napa Valley Mustard Season. Hosted by Downtown Napa Association in partnership with Jessel Miller, along with sponsorship support from the City of Napa hotels and inns, downtown Napa property owners, and Visit Napa Valley, downtown Napa will be abuzz as 33 artists, 33 wineries, and 33 food vendors and restaurants take over the iconic cultural hub, all ready to toast to Mustard Season in fashion. The entrance will feature branded vendors using the iconic image on their products.
Enjoy a gallery reception on January 16th for Wright from the Heart, a ticketed exhibition uniting artists and writers at Yountville Community Center’s Steve Rogers Gallery. Refreshments and mustard season-worthy products will be on full display.
Running weekends in February, Yountville will host its annual Find Your Heart in Yountville event. Yountville Arts Commissioners and town notables will hide-in-plain-sight 40 glass hearts around the sculptures on the Yountville Art Walk, created by Napa Valley glass artist Janie Adams. Hearts are to be kept by the finders as a reminder of Yountville, the Heart of Napa Valley.
Hop to St. Helena for Mustard Celebration Day, featuring a pop-up mustard-inspired art show from photographer Rob Watermeyer and a curated selection of wine and food from Clif Family Winery. This exclusive pop-up event occurs on Friday, March 7th, at the St. Helena Welcome Center along historic Main Street. Enjoy a day filled with Napa Valley flavors and artistry, celebrating the iconic mustard blooms that paint Wine Country’s spring landscape.
Top your art day off with your pick of VIP experiences at 13 of Napa Valley’s favorite wineries, with elevated estate tours, tastings, and food pairings courtesy of St. Helena’s Wine Passport Program, known as the Little Book of Big Experiences, valid through March 31st.
Known as the “Crown of Napa Valley,” Calistoga is a vibrant hub of artists, art galleries, tasting rooms, and restaurants, all ready to welcome you to celebrate the season. Enjoy its charming downtown arts scene and partake in local culture with a Winter in Wineries Wine Tasting Passport, valid through February 9th, which grants holders complimentary wine tastings, special town offers and more at participating locations.
The Calistoga Chamber of Commerce will host an Artist Reception on February 15th from 2-5pm, showcasing local artists, offering mustard-inspired bites, and providing guests with a unique opportunity to discover how winemakers incorporate mustard into the winemaking process.
Visit Napa Valley, the destination marketing and management organization for Napa Valley, is a valuable resource for all things Napa Valley, including trip-planning tools and information about lodging accommodations, wineries, restaurants, experiences, and activities valley-wide.
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Meet the Artist: Jessel Miller
I was honored to be chosen as the face of this valley-wide, three-month celebration honoring Mustard Season. Four judges picked the image for the Napa Valley Mustard Celebration this year in a first-time competition. My piece, titled Napa Valley Mustard Moment, reflects the gentle movement and rhythm of our valley vistas.
I began my professional career in 1971 – moving to California in the early 1970s, after graduating from the University of Florida with a bachelor’s degree in Fine Art. I made ends meet as a fashion illustrator and gradually supported my fine art career as a graphic artist. Back then, I considered myself a realist, loved portraiture, and began to focus on faces. In fact, I strictly worked on faces for 15 years and developed a rich, unique style in watercolors.
I was shy then, but my personality blossomed while preparing for my first major show at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in 1980. Melvin Belli, Diane Feinstein, and Maya Angelou were just 3 of the 25 personalities I met and painted for a Bay Area Personalities exhibition. My entrance to Abstract Expressionism (and “Jesselism” as I call it) began in 1984 when I moved to Napa Valley and opened the French doors to my gallery in a historic, 100-year-old building on Atlas Peak Road. The gallery grew from 300 square feet to 7,000 square feet over the next 40 years, and I have dedicated myself to supporting artists from around the country since. The official name on the door is Jessel Gallery, but this space is a cultural community center for all artists.
My greatest strength as an artist is my ability to blend and harmonize color. There is a delicate balance when no recognizable characteristics are on a canvas; some find the work unfamiliar; some need to see something real reflected back at them, and some identify, recognize, and live in abstract world with me. It is my joy to share this planet with all art appreciators, with room to roam and bathe in a blissful kaleidoscope of color.
Artist Biography
Shania Twain and I were born in the same town in Northern Ontario, Canada. Watching a special on her life, I was moved by the photos of Timmins and the huge snow drifts on the side of the road. It brought back memories of my childhood, which was filled with hours of delving deep into my imagination.
There was a stillness in the small-town night skies in Ontario. Winters (with temperatures as low as 50 below zero) were from September to sometimes June, so without any devices or distractions, a child had to create the world they wanted to live in. Almost every evening after dinner, I would go outside, lie back in the snow, and gaze at the miracle of the Northern Lights. The tranquility transformed and transported me.
Like a cosmic comet, I flew into outer space and drifted among imaginary planets as a young artist, looking out into the world in wonder about how it all worked. My world was an enchanted land of music, dance, and art. 75 years later, it still is.