RELATED EVENTS

• Ansel Adams in Yosemite
• Yosemite: Art of an American Icon

"El Capitan, Yosemite", is a 1990 oil on canvas painting by Greg Kondos, courtesy of Kenneth B. Noack, Jr. (Photo provided by Eiteljorg Museum)

"Yosemite National Park" is a 1980 Dye coupler print by Roger Minick which is part of the Collection of the Oakland Museum of California, Prints and Photographs Fund. (Provided by Eiteljorg Museum)

Isaac Chaifetz and Isaac Kebortz, both 7, try a climbing wall in "Yosemite: Art of an American Icon" at the Eiteljorg Museum. (Rob Goebel /Indianapolis Star)

Thomas Hill's painting " Yosemite Valley," which is part of the exhibition "Yosemite: Art of an American Icon," weighs 300 pounds. Seven people worked together to install it. (Rob Goebel / Indianapolis Star)

At nearly 1,200 square miles, Yosemite National Park im- presses with its beauty and grandeur. But among those peaks and valleys lies a history shaped not only by gla ciers, but also by American Indian inhabitants, artists and the ever-encroaching modern tourist.

That story comes to life through "Yosemite: Art of an American Icon," now showing at the Eiteljorg Mu seum.

The gathering of paintings, photographs, drawings and mixed-media works transports visitors to the Yo semite of the 1850s, when the first tourists (artists, writers, entrepreneurs) ventured into Yosemite Valley, and it guides them through the park's evolution to its present-day "tour- ism spectacle," says Suzan Campbell, the Eiteljorg's Gund curator of Western art, history and culture.

If you've already toured the legendary California site, the exhibit will deepen your understanding of the park. If you haven't, you might find yourself logging on to the Internet for travel bargains after you leave the museum -- while promising yourself that you won't act like a typical tourist when you visit.

Organized by the Museum of the American West at the Autry National Center in Los Angeles, the exhibit is espe- cially noteworthy for its variety of photographic works -- impressionism, surrealism and documentation. Images by perennial favorite Ansel Adams join those by Edward Weston, Carleton Watkins, Eadweard Muybridge, Richard Misrach, Anne Brigman and Ted Orland.

Works by photographers and painters created in the mid-1800s draw special interest, not only for their beauty, but for the techniques involved in creating them, Campbell says. In an era before paved roadways and compact photo equipment, artists had to navigate intricate trails while tot ing cumbersome supplies.

"They were mammoth prints," Campbell says of the photographic images, "so it's not like they were going in with the Instamatic. They were taking the glass plates and the dark-room chemistry and everything else they needed to create these images."

The exhibition's opening painting, Thomas Hill's 1876 oil-on-canvas "Yosemite Valley," weighs 300 pounds and required seven workers to install. "So imagine these guys doing this in the pre-automobile era," Campbell says.

Unlike the Museum of the American West, which organ ized its Yosemite works chronologically, Eiteljorg staff ar- ranged this exhibit thematically. Guests can more easily compare depictions of the same or similar elements within the park, such as the landmark Glacier Point or the water- falls, rock faces or juniper trees.

Artists in the 19th century focused on properly captur ing the details of an uninhabited wilderness, although that interpretation wasn't entirely accurate. "Yosemite was not a wilderness," Campbell says. "Yosemite Valley had been occupied and cared for by the Native Americans for cen- turies. And it was a social, cultural and agricultural center for the Native Americans, who were removed from the val ley when the United States decided to turn it into a park."

As decades passed, artists turned to more personal ex pressions. "Early artists ..... were communicating what Yo semite (was), so it was more documentary in feeling than some of the more contemporary work....... Art has become more about 'how does it feel to be here; what does it feel like to me?' rather than 'let me get the details right.'."

Viewers can draw their own impressions about the park and its visual interpretations by observing, say, side-by- side portrayals of rock faces by Carleton Watkins (a mam moth plate albumen print of Yosemite's Cathedral Rocks) and Wayne Thiebaud's contemporary abstract oil-on-can vas work titled "Yosemite Rock Ridge."

The theme of tourism occupies a large portion of the exhibit, as artists explore the conflicts inherent in preserv ing land through the national park system while allowing the public to visit it.

Some of the works trace the addition of paved roads to the park, leading to more passive tourist behavior ("You don't even have to get out of your car") and congestion. Pieces also play with both the humor of and fallout from the modern vacationer, from the kitschy souvenir headgear in Roger Minick's "Woman with Scarf at Inspiration Point" photo (see cover) to the 1960s-era public campground por trayed in Bruce Davidson's "Campground No. 4."

"Overall, I think Yosemite, next to the Grand Canyon, is probably the best-loved national park," Campbell says. "And I think its power, its symbolic power, is still with us."

Yosemite Park comes to Indy

Can't -- or don't want to -- make the 2,100-mile road trip to Yosemite National Park this summer? Check out these close-to-home special attractions inspired by the park, including a photography workshop and a kids' rock-climbing wall, at the Eiteljorg. Except as noted, events are included with general museum admission. Special exhibits

Camp Yosemite -- Through Aug. 3

Kids can experience the great outdoors, no matter the weather, at this hands-on area. The big draw: a rock-climbing wall, designed to offer a hint of Sierra Nevada mountains adventure. Children can also duck into a tent, sit at a picnic table and learn about acorn soup. Periodically, lights dim and "stars" come out, as the ceiling is transformed into a July night sky in Yosemite National Park, complete with evening sound effects.

Ansel Adams in Yosemite - Through Nov. 30

Ansel Adams fans needn't limit themselves to the works on view in the "Yosemite: Art of an American Icon exhibit." Upstairs at the Eiteljorg, "Ansel Adams in Yosemite" continues with 23 photographs that trace the artist's love affair with the park -- an affection that began with his first visit in 1916. Special events

The Holga World with Ted Orland

One f-stop, one shutter speed -- the plastic Holga camera may be simple, but it's a cult favorite. "It forces you to get back into the aesthetics," says Suzan Campbell, a photographer and the Eiteljorg's Gund curator of Western art, history and culture. "We get so lost in the technology -- this forces you to think about the image. Learn the art of Holga photography, take photos with your own Holga (supplied) and see what develops. Info: 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., May 2, $80 (includes camera, one roll of film and film development).

Curator's Choice: A Walk through Yosemite with Ted Orland

During a lunch break from his Holga workshop, Ted Orland will lead visitors through "Yosemite: Art of An American Icon." An informal lunch follows at the museum's Sky City Cafe. Info: 12:30 p.m., May 2, Art walk is free with museum admission; participants pay for own lunches.

Yoga-semite

Start your day with a stress-free hour of yoga in the Eiteljorg's gardens. For those age 15 and older. Info: 8 to 9 a.m., May 9, 16, 23, 30; $10.

- By Julie Cope Saetre / Star correspondent