Nch'i-Wana 2009

About Crow's Shadow Institute of the Arts

Their World-Class Print Studio

Crow’s Shadow Institute offers a world-class print facility with professional workspace for artists and the capability to produce most forms of printmaking, including lithographs, etchings, engravings, linocuts, woodcuts and monotypes.

Janzen explains that Crow’s Shadow Press acts mainly as a publisher for accomplished and emerging Native American artists. “Our mission is to act as a liaison between the Native American and mainstream art worlds. One way we do this is through our print studio.

"The primary program we have in that regard is an artist residency, where we invite well-known or high-potential artists to come work with us. We help them create their prints, and then we help them to sell them.”

Most of the artists who are invited to Crow’s Shadow are Native American, but because the mission is about creating a liaison between the art worlds, non-Native artists are also sometimes invited.

The world-famous glass artist Dale Chihuly is an example of a non-Native artist who created works at Crow’s Shadow. Janzen explains that in the case of Chihuly, “We didn’t ask him, he asked us”

“He knew of our reputation for creating quality prints, and he asked us specifically if we would produce an edition of prints for him … which of course we were glad to do.”

One of the prints produced by Chihuly will be for sale at the Nch’i-Wana art show. Any proceeds from the sale of that print will be deposited into the Dale Chihuly Scholarship Fund for young, emerging Native American artists.

The Crow's Shadow Mission

Crow’s Shadow Institute of the Arts (CSIA) is a nonprofit organization aimed at providing opportunities for Native Americans through artistic development.

With an emphasis on contemporary, fine-art printmaking, they also function as a venue to practice traditional Native American art practices — weaving, bead working and regalia making — of the Plateau region.

With a spacious gallery and world-class printmaking studio, CSIA brings in emerging and established artists to produce monotypes, monoprints and editions — including lithographs, etchings, linocuts, woodcuts and more. Their ever-growing portfolio of prints encompasses the work of many outstanding artists of diverse backgrounds and media.

Recognizing art as an intrinsic and essential element of Native American culture, Crow’s Shadow is committed to helping people, young and old, develop their artistic gifts and skills. Through a variety of professional and educational services, they look to give dedicated artists a strong voice while also providing a conduit to the mainstream art world.

Crow’s Shadow is housed within the historic St. Andrews mission schoolhouse, which in turn is situated at the base of the Blue Mountain foothills on the Umatilla Indian Reservation. By many accounts, it is a peaceful and inspiring place to come and create art.

Renowned artist James Lavadour (Walla Walla) and friends incorporated CSIA in 1992, with the idea of using art as a transformative tool within the Native American community. Just as art had changed and given new meaning to his own life, Lavadour wanted to create a place that would help others of American Indian heritage similarly realize the vocational potential of art.