Feather Sam Huesties, executive director of Crows Shadow Institute of the Arts, resigned from her position last month.

Huesties official last day was Sept. 15. The institutes newsletter said she was leaving to pursue other professional interests. Pat Walters, chairwoman of Crow’s Shadows board of directors, said Huesties may be moving on to pursue graduate studies.

Huesties declined to be interviewed by the East Oregonian.

Huesties served as executive director for 14 months, which proved to be a busy time for the institute. It hosted its annual monotype workshops and monothon, but also hosted classes on traditional American Indian arts. Those included working on ribbon shirts, fancy shawls, wing dresses, horse regalia, beaded baby moccasins and regular moccasins.

Much of this was due to Huesties influence, Walters said.

Traditional arts are kind of her forte, Walters said. She is an anthropologist through her education. So that is where her heart was, getting our traditional arts program built up again.

Walters said Huesties also helped the board take a more active role in running the institute. That included training sessions and reorganization. 

For the next step, Walters isnt exactly sure yet.

Huesties position was funded by grants from the Meyer Memorial Trust and the Administration for Native Americans. That funding continues for another year.

The board will need to meet and discuss with the grant sponsors whether to hire a temporary director or another full-time one. 

That will be discussed the next time the entire board meets, Walters said.