Feb 4, 2010

Tri-Citian at heart creates Splash in Art WalkBy Dori O'NealTheNewsTribune.com

Kennewick, WA — Artist Scott McMillin has spent the last 25-plus years in California hangin’ with the Hollywood famous, but he still sees himself as a dyed-in-the-wool Tri-City boy.

McMillin, who recently opened a new gallery called Splash in downtown Kennewick, moved home from Santa Barbara last fall after spending almost three decades catering to the stars with his multiple talents.

“I love the Tri-Cities, loved growing up here. I missed home,” McMillin said. “Moving back also meant I could be closer to my dad (Tom McMillin) who isn’t getting any younger.”

Tom McMillin and his wife, Joyce, who passed away in 2005, are well-known in the Tri-Cities for conceiving and organizing the construction of the Tri-Cities Veterans Memorial at Kennewick’s Columbia Park.

Scott McMillin, a 1977 Kennewick High grad, will be the featured artist at the First Thursday Art Walk in downtown Kennewick. His shop at 11 S. Dayton St. is as much fun to visit as the artist is to chat with.

When he left the Tri-Cities after high school he went to Washington State University where he graduated in 1981. From there he moved to Seattle and worked as a model for time and worked for Nordstrom. In 1983, his wanderlust led him to Santa Barbara when Nordstrom opened a store there.

He also honed his artistic skills managing various departments for Sak’s Fifth Avenue and other exclusive shops like Imagine, Tropicana Tremors and Blazing Hearts.

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