The Collection

Sara Siestreem (Hanis Coos) is a multidisciplinary artist from the Umpqua River Valley on the South Coast of Oregon, working across painting, photography, printmaking, weaving, and large-scale installation. Her practice merges the ceremonial traditions of her ancestors with contemporary modes and materials, engaging the intersections of social and ecological justice, Indigenous feminism, and education. Siestreem’s art often extends into institutional reform, particularly in curatorial and educational practices surrounding Indigenous fine art.

She was awarded the University of Oregon’s 2022–23 CFAR Fellowship and the 2022 Forge Project Fellowship, which recognized her as one of six Indigenous leaders working across cultural practice, participatory research, and community organizing to honor Native histories and build Native futures. Her work is represented in numerous public and private collections, including the Museum of Fine Arts (Boston, MA), Portland Art Museum (Portland, OR), Missoula Art Museum (MT), Forge Project (Hudson River Valley, NY), and the Gochman Family Foundation (Miami, FL). Her practice was also highlighted in An Indigenous Present (2023), the landmark publication conceived and edited by Jeffrey Gibson (Mississippi Choctaw/Cherokee).

Siestreem comes from a family of professional artists and educators, beginning her training at home. Her lifelong mentor is Lillian Pitt (Wasco, Warm Springs, Yakama), and her weaving teachers are Greg Archuleta (Grand Ronde) and Greg A. Robinson (Chinook Nation). She earned her BS in 2005 from Portland State University, graduating Phi Kappa Phi, and her MFA with distinction from Pratt Institute in 2007. She also created a self-sustaining weaving program for the Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw people.