Nancy Pelayo-Colores

The concept behind my design was influenced by James Lavadour’s paintings. Crow’s Shadow was his first painting sold as an emerging artist and now, currently, the name of the only professional printmaking studio on a Native American reservation in the United States. For that reason I wanted to create a design that is unique, loud, and impactful because I believe that Crow’s Shadow is unique with its people, land and hospitality.

Incorporating the wing and feathers of the crow from Crow’s Shadow: The crow is a symbol of Native American mythology that emphasizes the intelligence of crows. Some tribes believe it to be a trickster, recounting many of its tales of mischief. Whereas other tribes believe it as a happy sign, thinking that it was the wisdom of crows that brought down fire from heaven.

Incorporating design decisions from the 7 directions, hence the 7 triangle structures, and the medicine wheel: It represents the sacred hoop—the continuous pattern of life and death, and all the knowledge contained in our Universe. The medicine wheel represents the alignment and continuous interaction of the physical, emotional and spiritual realities. The circle shape represents interconnectivity of all aspects of one’s being, including the connection with the natural world.

A cross within the circle of a medicine wheel reveals four directions North, East, West, and South. The other three are up, down and the core center within.

● North is the direction of mind which is where I have placed my residency area.

● South is the rebirth which is where I have located the Entry.

● East is where the sun rises and where the long passageway runs north south but east lies a glass facade letting the sun welcome you.

● West is the dusk and earth and where you will see the sun touch the horizon of the land.

Located in the center is the heart where all gathering and community events can occur to interact with nature.

The triangle shape was chosen for its 3 sides that represent the three tribes, the Walla Walla, Cayuse, and the Umatilla.

Salix Sampson

When we visited Crow’s Shadow, I was amazed at how much the landscape changed going from Portland to Pendleton. The landscape was beautiful, with the Blue Mountains in the distance, the rolling wheat fields all around, and how expansive the horizon was.

While we explored the print studio at Crow’s Shadow and when we created our own prints here in Shattuck, I was captivated by the process of printmaking. The feeling of tearing the print paper, the smell of the ink, and the sound of the press were all new and exciting sensations to me.

So, when beginning the design for Crow’s Shadow’s new home, I thought it was equally as important to look inward on the amazing printmaking process as it was to look outwards towards the earth, horizon, and sky. The form of the building creates multiple, distinct coves that allows occupants to look outwards, but also across and back into the building.

The first experience of Crow’s Shadow in the eastern cove allows visitors to view art within the outdoor gallery garden and walk through the matrix canopy to enter the building. In printmaking, the matrix is the surface or form used to make a print; so, the matrix canopy is made to represent these surfaces, with the canopy representing an inked, plexiglass drypoint plate and the carved stone-supports represent a lithography stone.

Upon entry, the gallery is immediately visible as well as the touchdown desk, the south and north coves, and the printmaking studio beyond. The gallery was designed to feel dynamic by using angled walls and multiple spaces to encourage visitors to explore and discover the art because the entirety of the gallery is not revealed all at once.

The kitchen lies towards the heart of the building as a place for community, celebration, and interaction. It is directly connected to the outdoor social area in the north cove and is adjacent to the garden in the south cove.

From the central hallway, which acts as the fulcrum, new views of the landscape emerge, new areas of the building are revealed, such as the artist-in-residence and the traditional arts studio, and more detail is discovered with the continuation of the gallery through the halls and the large windows looking into the print studio.

Another major design objective was to bring in natural daylight into spaces, with specific emphasis on the print studio and gallery. For printmaking, direct lighting is not desired because it creates glare and areas of high contrast. So diffused, ambient, and indirect lighting is preferred. To achieve this, the print studio primarily has north-facing windows, which reduces the amount of direct sunlight entering the space, and it also uses two north-facing, sawtooth skylights to bring light deeper into the studio. The gallery also uses clearstory windows to bring light further into the rooms and uses borrowed light to let light pass from one room to another.

On a final note, much of this project, for me, has been about the process of trying new things, like printmaking, charcoal, or mylar; and I would be happy to talk about the process and my discoveries for any of the deliverables as well as the design ideas they display.

1 entry

2 gallery

3 kitchen

4 traditional arts space

5 printmaking studio

6 offices

7 artist-in-residence

Selected Bibliography

heather ahtone, Rebecca J. Dobkins, Prudence F. Roberts, Crow’s Shadow Institute of the Arts at 25. University of Washington Press, 2017

Roberta Conner, “Our People Have Always Been Here” from Lewis and Clark Through Indian Eyes, Alfred A. Knopf, 2006

Sylvie Covey, Modern Printmaking: A Guide to Traditional and Digital Techniques Watson-Guptill, 2016

Rebecca J. Dobkins and James Lavadour, JAMES LAVADOUR: The Properties of Paint, Hallie Ford Museum of Art, 2008

Eugene S. Hunn, E. Thomas Morning Owl, Phillip E. Cash Cash, Jennifer Karson Engum, Cáw Pawá Láakni =They Art Not Forgotten: Sahaptian Place Names Atlas of the Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla, 2015

Jennifer Karson (editor), Wiyaxayxt / Wiyaakaa'awn / As Days Go By: Our History, Our Land, Our People --The Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla. Oregon Historical Society Press, 2006

Chris Cornelius, Design is Ceremony, Tecnoglass Lecture Series, University of Miami School of Architecture, Nov 19, 2021

Alex V. Cipolle, “Increasing Exposure for Native Artists.” The New York Times, March 12, 2019

WG Clark, “Replacement,” and “Three Places,” from Place Matters. ORO Editions, 2019.

Richard Diebenkorn, “Notes to Myself on Beginning a Painting.” From Richard Diebenkorn: Revised and Expanded by Gerarld Nordland. Rizzoli, 1987.

Perry Kulper, “A World Below” from Drawing Architecture. John Wiley & Sons, 2013.

Maya Lin “On Making” from Boundaries. Simon & Schuster, 2000.

Roots

Medicines

Materials

Fruit Material Medicine

◦ LODGEPOLE PINE

◦ PEACHLEAF WILLOW

◦ QUAKING ASPEN

◦ RABBITBRUSH

◦ WATER BIRCH

◦ WESTERN RED CEDAR

◦ WILLOW