Bob McClenahan’s Napa: A Photography Exhibit at the Copia
By Tim Carl
NAPA, Calif. — Festival Napa Valley, in partnership with the Culinary Institute of America at Copia, will present “The Beauty of Napa Valley: Photography of Bob McClenahan” from June 18 through Sept. 1. The exhibition features 16 framed photographs selected from a portfolio McClenahan assembled shortly before his passing in March. Admission is free. All works are available for acquisition, with 100% of proceeds supporting a college scholarship fund for McClenahan’s two teenage sons.
“This is an exhibition that celebrates the creative work of Bob McClenahan,” said Lissa Gibbs, Festival Napa Valley’s vice president of education and community. “It’s a chance to connect with the images he created — the beauty he saw and chose to share.”
Capturing a Region
Over the past two decades, McClenahan photographed nearly every major event in Napa Valley — from BottleRock and Festival Napa Valley galas to Lighted Tractor Parades, vintner gatherings, weddings and countless winery campaigns. Known for his eye, timing, humor and humility, he became the go-to photographer for those who wanted Napa captured at its best.
“Bob wasn’t someone who sought the spotlight,” Gibbs said. “He was a quiet person who spent his life capturing public — and sometimes very private — moments. He had that rare ability to wait, to sense when something ordinary was about to become extraordinary.”
His final assignment for Festival Napa Valley was last winter’s Calistoga Lighted Tractor Parade — an event he loved for its color, joy and community spirit. Shortly after, he curated a portfolio of favorite works. The 16 photographs on display — all untitled and numbered — are drawn from that collection.
“He didn’t think of himself as a fine-art photographer,” Gibbs said. “Bob wasn’t about limited editions or darkroom technique. He was about sharing beauty and telling the story of this place through the viewfinder.”
Chosen by the Best
McClenahan’s work reached far beyond Napa. At last year’s Festival gala, where Lionel Richie performed, multiple photographers documented the night. Richie’s management reviewed the full gallery — and chose just one image.
“They picked Bob’s,” Gibbs said. “And that was no surprise. He always caught the moment. Everyone waited to see what Bob had captured. That’s just what he did.”
His ability to find that perfect, defining moment — whether during a celebrity performance or a quiet sunrise — has become part of how Napa Valley is visually understood, both here and far beyond.
An Exhibition With Purpose
The prints — framed at Festival Napa Valley’s expense — are not part of a limited edition. Multiple copies can be acquired. Suggested donations begin at $750 for a framed 11x14 print, though any donation amount is welcome.
“This is structured like a public radio fundraiser,” Gibbs explained. “If you donate to the scholarship fund at a certain level, you receive one of Bob’s framed images — but you can give whatever you can give. It’s a thank-you gift. The real point is to help his children.”
She added, “Bob worked because he loved it, but also because he had a family to support. This exhibition allows his work to keep doing that.”
The works are labeled simply — Untitled 1 through Untitled 16 — a reflection of both the intimacy and the humility of the offering. The point, as Gibbs emphasized, is not scarcity or status, but accessibility and contribution.
A Festival for the Community
Founded in 2006, Festival Napa Valley has become the region’s leading nonprofit for arts education, cultural access and community programming. It’s now the largest private funder of arts education in Napa County, reaching thousands of students each year through school concerts, library performances and tuition-free summer academies.
“We’ve worked hard to make the arts available to everyone,” Gibbs said. “For the summer concerts, 75% of our programming is free. This year we added a ‘choose-your-price’ ticket model for evening events — with tickets starting at just $5.”
“He [Bob] had that rare ability to wait, to sense when something ordinary was about to become extraordinary,” said Lissa Gibbs, Festival Napa Valley’s vice president of education and community.
The 2025 Summer Season, running July 5–20, includes more than 60 events. Highlights include performances by Jon Batiste, the North American debut of the Royal Opera of Versailles, a “Fantasia” screening with live orchestra, jazz tributes and a Music & Wellness Symposium featuring neuroscientist and author Daniel Levitin.
Although many concerts are held at Charles Krug Winery, CIA at Copia will serve as the festival’s daytime headquarters — with McClenahan’s exhibition as a visual centerpiece.
“We timed it that way on purpose,” Gibbs said. “Bob’s work is part of this cultural moment. His images shaped how the world sees Napa Valley.”
Beauty, Not Nostalgia
Gibbs joined Festival Napa Valley in March 2020 — the very week the world shut down. She immediately began producing virtual festivals, including one that was rebroadcast by KQED and reached viewers across the globe. The second season was distributed internationally and viewed by audiences in Chile, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, Mexico, Brazil and Germany — reminding people everywhere of the power of art in a time of isolation.
Now back in person, she sees the McClenahan exhibition as more than an exhibition. It’s a reminder.
“We need the arts now more than ever,” she said. “They’re not a luxury. They’re what make us human — and humane. In a time of division, the arts help us be in community, to sit together, to share something real.”
McClenahan’s images, she said, are exactly that: patient, grounded, generous.
“He had a respect for the subject — whether it was a vineyard in fog or a couple about to get engaged,” she said. “He didn’t stage anything. He waited. He noticed. And then he captured something you could feel.”
This isn’t a retrospective. It doesn’t try to define a life or craft a legacy. It simply does what McClenahan always did: It pays attention quietly and fully.
“This is a celebration of Bob’s work,” Gibbs said. “And it’s a reminder of what he stood for — decency, connection and the quiet power of seeing what matters.”
“The Beauty of Napa Valley: Photography of Bob McClenahan” runs daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at CIA at Copia, 500 First St., Napa, from June 18 through Sept. 1. Admission is free. The June 18 opening reception is currently full; a waitlist is available at festivalnapavalley.org. All images are available for acquisition, with proceeds benefiting the McClenahan family scholarship fund.
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Tim Carl is a Napa Valley-based photojournalist.
We can't wait to experience this tribute to Bob. He has moved me with his photography many, many times in an area I have been in love with for many years. No one captured it like he did in my humble opinion and I am thrilled that this has been put together.
Unfortunately, we missed out on the opening night as it sold out but we will be there the second night after opening.
Thank you for sharing this enormous tribute to a man who contributed so much to Napa Valley and beyond.
Sharon
Yountville