"Pitzer Welcomes 'Native Hosts' Installation" by Jenny Heyside
Pitzer College’s new art+environment program inaugurated its first semester with a public art installation by Edgar Heap of Birds, a Native American contemporary artist and the program’s first artist-in-residence. The installation, "Native Hosts,"will be on display for two years in various locations around Pitzer’s campus.
Heap of Birds is recognized for some of the earliest and most powerful conceptual Native American art. The inspiration for "Native Hosts" comes from Heap of Birds's vision of conducting his art projects by entering a new space and acknowledging that he is a guest on lands with native hosts. In the case of Pitzer’s exhibit, he aims to honor and bring attention to the Tongva, an indigenous people of California, who once occupied the entire Los Angeles Basin.