Obata Art Weekend 2025

Yosemite National Park will celebrate the legacy of Yosemite and California artist Chiura Obata with the fifth annual Obata Art Weekend August 22 to August 24, 2025. The weekend will feature art workshops and demonstrations, ranger talks, presentations, a community art fair, a round table discussion, and more!

Park visitors will need not need a reservation that weekend. However, all Yosemite Valley parking lots are usually full by 9am on weekends during the summer. All activities are based in Yosemite Village. The closest parking lots are Yosemite Village Parking and Yosemite Valley Lodge Parking. Please plan accordingly.

The Yosemite Museum is thrilled have a special exhibit to showcase Yosemite’s Obata original pieces for the entire month of August! Alongside a selection of Obata’s works, including a scroll that’s being displayed to the general public for the first time, there will be art from the workshop artists and our local students from Yosemite High School. This exhibit is opened during Yosemite Museum hours, daily from 10am-5pm, Aug 1-Aug 31, 2025.

Join a California-based printmaker in an interactive Q&A as he creates a traditional Mokuhanga wood-block print.  Participants will have the opportunity to observe and assist with the printing process, delve into the intricacies of woodcut, and explore the diverse aspects of hand printmaking. Meet at Shuttle Stop 6 (Lower Yosemite Fall Stop).
Register here.

Participants will join this unique watercolor workshop with options of integrating Chinese ink or oil pastel. We will learn design, composition, shape, line, value, and color, and make nature sketches. Participants will transform their sketches and art imaginations into landscape paintings. We will discover the power of watercolor paintings with wet-on-wet or wet-on-dry techniques, and explore watercolor expressions with action painting by splashing and dripping. The instructor will offer a class demo and engage individual interaction. Each student will bring home a watercolor painting as a lifetime memory. Meet in front of Yosemite Exploration Center.

While we can’t forage for materials in the park, this art program will be an exciting demonstration and talk based on principles of Sogetsu ikebana (not a hands-on workshop). Inspired by the beauty of Yosemite, Keiko will share both an early lesson in the Sogetsu curriculum and several others using some materials similar to those found in the park.

Participants will also be shown an arrangement using containers made by Haruko Obata and others while incarcerated in the WWII Topaz Concentration Camp. Meet in front of Yosemite Exploration Center.
Register here.

Join educator and artist Satomi Fujikawa for a walk along the river and meadow, making stops to observe and sketch what we see. We will take it slow and be curious about the beauty around us. You do not need to be an artist or a naturalist to nature journal!  Meet in front of Yosemite Exploration Center.
Register here.

Join veteran Yosemite artist and art teacher Mariko, and learn to translate the beautiful landscape you are connecting with using your brush and page. Meet at Shuttle Stop 6 (Lower Yosemite Fall Stop).
Register here.

Photography Walk with Blake Johnston

In addition to the artist workshops, Obata Art Weekend will feature a lineup of presentations and ranger-led programs. Speakers include: Kimi Hill (Obata’s granddaughter), Dr. Laura Allen, April Kunieda, and Connie Lau. These will be in the evenings on Friday and Saturday, at the workshop times listed above, and on Sunday morning  – with all speaker presentations in the Valley Auditorium.

A beloved event for all ages, the Community Art Fair (CAF) will have 10 tables staffed by various park partners and community organizations this year, ranging from the Japanese American National Museum to the Mariposa Art Council to Yosemite Conservancy Art Program to the Mariposa Library to The Ansel Adams Art Gallery to Ranger-led interactive art activities. In 2024, the Obata Art Weekend welcomed over 1300 visitors during this event, we’re hoping to have around the same this year! The Fair will be in front of the Yosemite Valley Welcome Center from 4-6pm on Saturday, August 23rd, 2025.