Visiting artist Sara Siestreem offers a talk on her multi-disciplinary practice, which addresses ancestral memory and continuing traditions, Indigenous survivance and sovereign rights, and the inclusion of natural processes and environmental relationships. This talk will open up a space to discuss the ways non-Indigenous communities can work in collaboration with Tribes to respectfully and effectively approach land management, gathering and working with natural materials for art or medicinal purposes, and decolonizing institutions.

Sara Siestreem (Hanis Coos and American, born 1976) is from the Umpqua River Valley in southwestern Oregon. She is a Master Artist, Educator, and Theorist. Siestreem graduated Phi Kappa Phi with a BS from PSU in 2005. She earned an MFA with distinction from Pratt Art Institute in 2007. She is represented by Augen Gallery in Portland and her work has been shown in museums and figures in prestigious private and public collections nationally. She teaches studio arts at PSU and traditional Indigenous weaving practices for The Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians.

This program is in partnership with yәhaw̓, a year-long Indigenous community-based project culminating in the inaugural exhibition at Seattle Office Of Arts & Culture’s ARTS at King Street Station from March 23 - August 3, 2019, in which Sara Siestreem will have work on view. The exhibition is accompanied by a mentorship training cohort, satellite shows, residencies, vendor opportunities and partner programs. yәhaw̓ will feature the work of 200+ Indigenous creatives at over 20 sites across Seattle and beyond. Curated by Tracy Rector (Choctaw/Seminole), Asia Tail (Cherokee), and Satpreet Kahlon, yәhaw̓ celebrates the depth and diversity of Indigenous art made in the Pacific Northwest. Learn more at yehawshow.com.