Project overview: Enhance visitor connections to Yosemite traditions and art through an annual series of summer park programs and events, including the Parsons Memorial Lodge Summer Series and the Obata Art Weekend.

How your support helps: Yosemite National Park can receive more than 20,000 visitors a day in the busy summer months, many of whom come to the park to hike, climb, camp, and/or go sightseeing. The Yosemite Art and Traditions summer event series, however, broadens the visitor experience beyond these well-known recreation activities and offers opportunities to connect with nature through the art, culture, and traditions of Yosemite. 

Through four popular, recurring events — Parsons Memorial Lodge Series & Tuolumne Meadows Poetry Festival, Obata Art Weekend, Yosemite Art Trails, and Yosemite Knap-In — that span the summer season and reach multiple districts of the park, visitors are encouraged to create personal art and learn about Yosemite’s past and present artists. And, as a result, these programs open the door for visitors to have more enjoyable experiences and to care more deeply for this beautiful park. 

This year: In 2026, the Yosemite Art and Traditions project will offer four key summer programs to ensure consistent visitor experiences amidst major park-wide transitions. 

  • The multi-weekend Parsons Memorial Lodge Series & Tuolumne Meadows Poetry Festival events offer space for the public to experience an incredible lineup of speakers, poets, and musicians in the heart of the High Sierra summer.  
  • The Obata Art Weekend is a fun art event that celebrates the legacy of artist Chiura Obata and features art workshops, ranger talks, community art, and more.  
  • The week-long Yosemite Art Trails event, formerly known as Yosemite Visions, offers visitors pop-up art experiences that highlight lesser-known Yosemite artists and gives visitors the chance to create their own art.  
  • The two-day Yosemite Knap-In event welcomes visitors to observe experts in the traditional art of knapping — a traditional technique that includes making arrowheads and other stone tools.  

With your support, all four events are expected to uphold the tradition of summer programming in Yosemite and reach approximately 9,000 visitors. 

Project partner: Yosemite National Park