Delmer J. Yoakum

Delmer J. Yoakum (December 6, 1915 – October 25, 1996) was an American fine artist, oil and watercolor painter, designer, serigrapher, Disneyland and Hollywood motion picture studio scenic artist.

Del Yoakum was born in St. Joseph, Missouri. Throughout his childhood, he was surrounded by artists. His mother was a painter. After dismissing his hope of studying music, painting became his passion. As a boy in the late 1930s, he received a scholarship for four consecutive years to study each summer with Thomas Hart Benton at Kansas City Art Institute. After serving in the United States Navy during World War II, he came to Los Angeles and studied with Henry Lee McFee, Phil Dike, and Rico Lebrun; and at Chouinard Art Institute, Jepson Art Institute, and the University of Southern California's Roski School of Fine Arts.

Yoakum's occupation was that of a Painter - Designer - Motion Picture Artist in Hollywood, California from 1952-1972. Over 21 years, he worked for Paramount, 20th Century Fox, and MGM; and did special assignments for Walt Disney Studios. During this time he also did his own fine art painting in his own studio. Among his many accomplishments during his long career, he painted the Grand Canyon and Primeval World Diorama scenery (viewable from the train of Disneyland Railroad), portions of Pirates of the Caribbean, It's a Small World and the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland in California.