"Artisans at The Ahwahnee" Series Begins in Yosemite National Park

From YubaNet.com

Regional
"Artisans at The Ahwahnee" Series Begins in Yosemite National Park
Author: Delaware North Companies
Published on Dec 14, 2007, 08:11

A new series showcasing a variety of artistic mediums begins this weekend at The Ahwahnee, Yosemite Valley's grand, historic national landmark hotel. Designed to share the wealth of regional artistic talent with park guests, "Artisans at The Ahwahnee" commences on Friday, December 14 with its inaugural display of cedar Santa sculptures by Calvin and Loretta Lyster. The artists' works will be on display and available for purchase from 1pm to 6pm, concluding the same hours on Saturday, December 15.

The Lysters originally began crafting "Old World Father Christmas" wood sculptures as gifts for friends and family back in 1991. The cedar wood is collected from their property in Cedar Valley, California, lovingly hand carved into a one-of-a-kind sculpture and carefully hand-painted to give each its own unique personality. Each Christmas season, Calvin and Loretta create a limited number of sculptures available to the public. The sculptures have been welcomed into families' homes as cherished heirlooms, and have found their way into Santa collections world wide.

Calvin's wood sculptures have been shown in Carmel, California, the Enthios Gallery in New Mexico, "Back Street Gallery" in Lone Pine, Timberline Gallery in Oakhurst, as well as the Ansel Adams Gallery and The Ahwahnee in Yosemite National Park. He also participated in the "Affaire in the Park" in Beverly Hills for five years and has several pieces represented in the collection of renowned fine wood art collector, Dr. Irving Lipton.

The Lysters have lived in the Yosemite area since 1971. They settled in Cedar Valley and established a pottery shop at the Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad, which was in operation until 1990. Their two children were born at the Lewis Memorial Hospital, now the Yosemite Medical Clinic, located in the heart of Yosemite Valley.

DNC Parks & Resorts at Yosemite is an affiliate of Delaware North Companies and the authorized National Park Service concessionaire responsible for lodging, dining, guest recreation, retail stores, and transportation in Yosemite National Park. For more information regarding advance lodging reservations at The Ahwahnee and activities throughout Yosemite, visit www.YosemitePark.com.