Sarah Ortegon HighWalking - Wyoming Women to Watch

Sarah Ortegon HighWalking was born in Denver, CO to a preacher father and an eastern Shoshone and northern Arapaho mother. Ortegon HighWalking and her eleven siblings spent their summers on the Wind River reservation in Wyoming with her mother’s family, learning about the history and culture of her people. The artist received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Metropolitan State University of Denver in 2013, also spending time abroad studying art history in Italy.

Ortegon HighWalking learned traditional beadwork from her mother as a young teenager, enjoying the art and storytelling as part of the process of creativity. The artist felt most in her element when learning about spiritual practices of her indigenous heritage, and she found that all the art that she produced naturally referenced this history. In 2013, after being crowned Miss Native American USA, she toured with the Native Pride Dancers. A dancer, performer, actor, and painter, Ortegon HighWalking expresses herself through her indigenous lens in each of her mediums. In 2020, Ortegon collaborated with Choctaw artist Jeffery Gibson and performed in Times Square. Her contemporary take on traditional indigenous arts combines beadwork, painting, and performance.

Ortegon HighWalking’s work has been shown across Wyoming and Colorado and will be included in the exhibition Women to Watch at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, DC in 2024. The artist was featured in an Emmy nominated PBS story titled The Art of Home; a Wind River Story and has numerous performance projects on the horizon. Ortegon HighWalking is currently the assistant director of Human Resources for Native American Rights Fund (NARF), a 50-year-old firm that works to preserve tribal existence and protect its resources.