Rocklin - Visual Imagery of the Sierra Nevada will be the themes of lectures at Sierra College on Thursday, May 3, 2007 at 6 PM as part of the college’s Sierra Nevada lecture series.

Two lectures will be presented on May 3, 2007 during the class period.  The first will be on the “Artistic Legacy of Chiura Obata.”  The second will be on “Early Photography in the Sierra Nevada.”

Chiura Obata (1885-1975) loved the Sierra Nevada.  It inspired countless sketches, paintings and writings.  The theme that became his greatest source of inspiration – indeed, a consuming lifelong passion—was Yosemite. Many say he came into his own with his Yosemite watercolors of 1927 and the woodblock prints that were made from them in 1930.  Much of his vibrantly colored works of the Sierra were finally published in Obata’s Yosemite (Yosemite Association, 1993).  An Obata painting graces an entrance of the recently remodeled DeYoung Museum in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.

Obata was one of more than 100,000 Japanese Americans forcibly relocated from their homes, work, and communities and interned during World War II.  He was born in Japan and came to California in 1903.  A master in the traditional Japanese sumi ink and brush technique, he taught at the UC Berkeley from 1932 until 1954, except for his years of internment. 

The lecture will be presented by Kimi Kodani Hill.  She is the granddaughter of Chiura Obata, and the Obata family historian.  A graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, and the California College of Arts and Crafts, she has served as the consultant for numerous Obata projects and exhibits.  She is currently on the Board of Trustees for the Yosemite Association and lives in Berkeley, California.  Ms. Hill was invited to Sierra College to discuss the role that the Sierra Nevada played in the art and inspiration of her grandfather.

From the earliest days of the medium, photographers have delighted in snapping pictures of the Sierra Nevada.  But, in the beginning, photography in the mountains was part artistic expression and part adventure.  The presentation on "Early Photography in the Sierra Nevada" will focus on this fascinating phenomenon. 

The lecture will be presented by Gary Kurutz.  Since 1980, Kurutz has served as Director of the Special Collections Branch of the California State Library in Sacramento. Special Collections includes the California History Section, Sutro Library, General Rare Book Collection, and Preservation Office. Previously, he held positions as Head Librarian, Sutro Library; Library Director, California Historical Society, and Bibliographer of Western American at the Henry E. Huntington Library. Additionally, he serves as
Executive Director of the California State Library Foundation and is a faculty member of the California Rare Book School at UCLA.

He has received awards from The Book Club of California, California Historical Society, California Committee for the Promotion of History, Commonwealth Club of California, Oregon-California Trails Association, Sacramento Book Collectors Club, and the Sacramento County Historical Society.

The lecture will be in the Sierra College - Rocklin campus Library/Learning Resource Center in Room LR 107 at 6 PM.  The public is invited to this free lecture, although campus parking permits are required.  Parking permits can be purchased for $1 at campus dispensers.  Sierra College is located at 5000 Rocklin Road in Rocklin, California.

These lectures will be presented as part of the course, Interdisciplinary 6: the Sierra Nevada. The semester-length class examines the art, history, natural history, management, and public policy of the Sierra Nevada region.

For more information about this lecture, Interdisciplinary 6, or the Sierra Nevada lecture series, contact Gary Noy at (916) 781-7184 or gnoy@sierracollege.edu