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Yosemite has a cultural importance on a global scale, in that our nation preserved it as a park before Yellowstone, and it is now one of America's small number of World Heritage Sites. Twenty percent of Yosemite's visitors come from other countries and Yosemite has sister national park relationships with Chile and China. Shop the Yosemite Valley Visitor Center's bookstore for the best selection of Yosemite literature and arts, and catch the free film there every half-hour. On summer nights, the film is replaced by live theater; watch John Muir come to life or legendary rockclimber Ron Kauk describe his craft. Right next door is the Yosemite Museum where there is a rotating gallery exhibit and a unique Indian Cultural Museum staffed by area Indians. Right out back is the reconstructed Indian Village, a great place to learn, and still used by Yosemite's First People for ceremonies 4 times a year. Just across the road is the Yosemite Cemetery where some of the park's important historic people are interred; a book you can find in the Visitor Center gives you all their stories. On the other side of the Valley Visitor Center is the renowned Ansel Adams Gallery, where the great landscape photographer's work is displayed. Just down the pedestrian mall, beyond the Village Store is the Yosemite Art and Education Center where every week a different professional artist displays their work and teaches free classes from 10 am - 2 pm most summer days. In the park's high country it's worth taking the stroll across Tuolumne Meadows to Parson's Lodge, a unique structure designed by Bernard Maybeck and which hosts a summer speaker series and an August Poetry Festival. Hetch Hetchy Valley is Yosemite's twin and the center of America's first great conservation battle; a visit to the dam highlights the issues at stake historically and today. In the south part of the park is the small community of Wawona where the Pioneer History Center displays historic buildings from around the park. Just above this is the delightful Hill's Studio which serves as the Wawona Visitor Center; included in the wealth of art displays is the painting featured during President Obama's inauguration. For more depth on Yosemite, sign up with Yosemite Association (www.yosemite.org) for a field seminar on park history, Native American culture, painting, or photography. They even host a special series called "A Park for All People" highlighting the contributions made by people of color to Yosemite's preservation and future.