Yosemite Renaissance 40 - Call to Artists

The Call to Artists for Yosemite Renaissance 40 is OPEN. 

The Submission Deadline is Sunday, January 14th, 2025.

Please join us for our 40th annual exhibition. Celebrate Yosemite and the California Sierra. Share your Vision! 

The Yosemite Renaissance Exhibition is an annual exhibit that offers an opportunity for artists inspired by Yosemite and the California Sierra Nevada region to display, promote and sell their art. The exhibit opens at Yosemite Gateway Art Center in Oakhurst, CA, then travels on to other venues in California.

Awards

$4,000 in cash awards will be announced at the opening reception at Yosemite Gateway Art Center in March 2024.

Yosemite Renaissance is a non-profit art organization founded in 1985 to encourage artists to create diverse interpretations of Yosemite National Park and the surrounding Sierra Nevada region. The organization seeks to inspire a new generation of people to understand, preserve and protect our wild lands and natural places.

Philosophy and Approach

For over 150 years, artists have played an important role in the establishment of our state and national parks, inspiring people to visit iconic natural sites, and to protect our natural resources. 

Subject matter must be related to the landscape, environment, wildlife and people of Yosemite National Park and the Sierra Nevada region. Both representational and non-representational submissions are allowed. We encourage artist who apply to celebrate the beauty and wonder of nature through art, but also to consider and explore environmental issues, ecology, biology, forestry, current events, political, spiritual and cultural themes.

Contributing artists should be aware of the geographic range of the show. While the nexus of the exhibit is Yosemite National Park, the scope of the show also includes Sequoia National Park, Sierra National Forest, Ansel Adams Wilderness, Mono Lake, Bodie, the White Mountains, and more. The high Sierra, east side and west side foothills and canyons from Lake Tahoe to Tehachapi are all included! The area is huge, consisting of thousands of acres of rugged peaks, deep valleys, forests, lakes and streams.  If your work is inspired by these places, it will be considered.

Mastery of traditional media, technical expertise, style and personal vision are important factors in the selection process. Yosemite Renaissance also encourages innovation. Jurors will consider the use of new tools, technologies, materials and techniques.