Artist and art promoter Tyson Underwood, a former director of the Sausalito Art Festival who went on to found the Marin Art Festival in San Rafael, died Jan. 9 at his home in Mill Valley. He was 78.
His family said he had been suffering for the past 18 months from myelodysplastic syndrome, a form of leukemia.
Mr. Underwood is credited with reviving the languishing Sausalito Art Festival after the City Council appointed him as director in 1978, a tenure that lasted until 1984. In revitalizing the then 29-year-old festival, he emphasized local artists, started the gala dinner on the eve of the opening, introduced the festival's elephant-and-palm-tree logo that is used to this day and generated publicity and interest by creating a canopy over the festival grounds with panels from Christo's famed Running Fence.
He also stirred controversy by making the festival a juried show to elevate the quality of the art. Read more: http://www.marinij.com/marinnews/ci_27311192/marin-art-festival-founder-tyson-underwood-former-director
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Even if you don't know Tyson, this is an interesting article about the evolution of one of the big fairs and Tyson's influence on it. Good art fair history info.