MISSION — Nationally renowned artists have hung their hats at Crow’s Shadow Institute of the Arts (CSIA) in the past, leaving prints from their residencies on studio walls and entries in the guestbook.

Institutional guests from the Portland Art Museum (PAM) toured the CSIA studio on March 17, where artists and staff highlighted the institute’s impact on contemporary and traditional art.

PAM visitors were Greg Tibbles, board of trustees community leader; Sara Krajewski, a modern and contemporary art curator; Karie Burch, director of development; and Camille Idedevbo, the director of data strategy and organizational learning with the 1803 Fund, a public benefit nonprofit dedicated to rebuilding and strengthening the historically Black community in North and Northeast Portland.

CSIA Vice Chair Pat Walters, a founding CSIA board member involved since 1992, said the institute has evolved significantly over time.

“We started out as an art institute without really knowing what we were doing,” Walters said. “And it turned into more of a help-thing for the artists, to start learning how to market themselves.”

Alongside its artist-in-residence program, CSIA hosts 14 to 16 workshops annually focused on traditional art forms. Led by Jacy Sohappy, CSIA traditional arts manager, the workshops range from beading and sewing to quillwork and dogbane hemp processing and twining.

Walters said printmaking has become the institute’s most nationally recognized offering, while traditional arts programming is aimed at encouraging local participation.

Sohappy, who first attended a CSIA workshop as a child, reflected on her connection to the space.

“My first workshop that I took here was when I was 12, in this room with Joey Lavadour (local basket weaving artist),” Sohappy said. “When I turned 38, I started working here and the first workshop I got to host was with Joey. So, it’s this big circle of passing on our knowledge.”

During the tour, Sohappy described the importance of preserving and continuing artistic traditions passed down through generations, including dogbane hemp twining.

“It always blows my mind to think of how they did it then and how much more work it was,” she said. “They were like, ‘This is what we need to use for our bags … but let’s make it pretty, too.’”

She added their work can help people process experiences, learn and stay connected and that it continues to evolve.

The studio reflects that evolution, filled with artwork created by past resident artists. Figures such as Phillip Cash Cash, RYAN! Fedderson and Yoonhee Choi have spent time at CSIA, developing their work while drawing inspiration from the Blue Mountains.

Some of those works were featured at the Portland Fine Print Fair in January, where many of the visiting guests first became familiar with CSIA.

“To understand the scope of people who have been through here, you go back over 20 years,” Tibbles said. “A lot of big names have come through here and spoken highly of it.”

Idedevbo said the visit revealed a depth of talent that often goes unnoticed.

“There’s all of this hidden talent sitting right under our noses,” she said. “You can tell there’s a level of excellence that has gone into the cultivation of people’s skillset.”

The studio reflects a spirit of creativity and continuity, filled with artwork by past resident artists. Artists past and present have left their mark on CSIA, from prints on the walls to notes in the guestbook. A note left by a past artist in a studio book captured the spirit of the place: “P.S. Go to the top of the hill (walk through the fence) and watch the sun go down.”