Artwork copyright Sara Siestreem. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, by Dennis Dehart, 2021.

Artwork copyright Sara Siestreem. Photo courtesy of the artist, 2020.

Artwork copyright Sara Siestreem. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, by Dennis Dehart, 2021.

Artwork copyright Sara Siestreem. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, by Dennis Dehart, 2021.

Artwork copyright Sara Siestreem. Featuring curator RYAN! Feddersen. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, by Dennis Dehart, 2021.

DAYS AND DAYS, 2015

Sara Siestreem
American Hanis Coos

Location: Kamiak Elementary, Pullman

About the Artwork

DAYS AND DAYS by Sara Siestreem (Hanis Coos) is a reference to the unbroken reality of Indigenous living culture on this continent. She notes, “This work is evidence of our inner Tribal relationships, education strategies, and traditional presence as contemporary and sophisticated people. I display this work to celebrate and show our sovereignty, exercised through the continued practice of our traditional relationship with the natural world and cultural lifeways that we have enjoyed since time immemorial.” This artwork is part of a curated collection by RYAN! Feddersen (Okanogan and Arrow Lakes) at Kamiak Elementary, Pullman School District, in Eastern Washington. RYAN! drew inspiration from the school's namesake, Chief Kamiakin, and his five wives. Her curated collection honors the essential and often under-recognized role that matriarchs play in history by highlighting Indigenous artists whose work connects with activism, collaboration, resistance, and community building.

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Pullman School District.

About the Artist

Sara Siestreem (Hanis Coos) is an artist from the Umpqua River Valley on the south coast of Oregon. She mainly works in painting, but she also works in photography, printmaking, drawing, sculpture, video, traditional Indigenous weaving, and large-scale installations. Her art practice branches into institutional reform, as it relates to curating and education about Indigenous Fine Art.

Siestreem comes from a family of professional artists and educators and her training began at home. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Portland State University, Oregon, and a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Pratt Art Institute in 2007. She created and runs a weaving program for the Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw people. She teaches studio art at the Pacific Northwest College of Art and Portland State University, both in Portland, Oregon where she lives and works.