Crow’s Shadow Institute of the Arts is an independent non-profit located on the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. Its mission is to provide a creative conduit for educational, social, and economic opportunities for Native Americans through artistic development. Originally founded in 1992 by the artist James Lavadour (Walla Walla), the organization hired its first Master Printer in 2001 and began publishing fine-art, limited edition, lithographic prints by leading contemporary Native American artists from across the United States. Over the past 20 years it has collaborated with artistic luminaries such as James Luna, Kay WalkingStick, Wendy Red Star, Rick Bartow, Marie Watt, and Joe Feddersen. Through a generous grant from The Ford Family Foundation, Crow’s Shadow has also hosted numerous Native and non-Native contemporary artists from throughout Oregon.

Word Play is a group exhibition of prints from the Crow’s Shadow Institute of Arts Collection. The artwork in this show intertwines typographic elements with visual imagery allowing the viewer to consider the intention between the words or letters as an influencing factor both compositionally and conceptually. The artists featured in this show explore a range of themes focused on identity, transformation, politics, memory, and power.

The exhibition runs from April 3 to 26, with a gallery talk and Q&A with the Master Printer of Crow’s Shadow on April 6 at 3 pm with a reception to follow at the gallery.

The Esvelt Gallery would like to thank ASCBC for their continued support.

Gallery Hours:
Monday to Thursday: 7:30 am to 5pm
Friday: 7:30 am to 12:30pm