BIO
Heather ‘Bird’ Harris (b. 1987) is an artist, educator, and activist working in Atlanta and New Orleans. Her work explores the throughlines between land history and environmental crises, as well as mothering in the face of climate change. Her practice includes painting and social practice, which both engage site-specific earth pigments as catalysts for connection to historical narratives, environmental risks, and collective action.
Harris received her B.S. in art history and studio art from Skidmore College in 2009 and master’s degree in education leadership from Columbia University in 2013. Over the past 15 years, Harris has been a middle school principal, written anti-racist history curriculum, and has worked with school leaders across the South to implement equitable learning practices and empowering history education. Recent and upcoming exhibitions include Art Fields 2023, Harris’s 2022 solo exhibition Where the Water Goes as part of the Arts New Orleans SALON Residency, and her community art series “Land Memory” with Science Gallery Atlanta in collaboration with Emory University in May 2023.
CURRICULUM VITAE
EDUCATION
2013 Columbia University, NY
M.A.in Education Leadership
2009 Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY
B.S. in Art History, Minor: Studio Art
2008 School for International Training: Art &
Culture, New Delhi, India
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024 Solo exhibition, Spalding Nix, Atlanta, GA (forthcoming)
2023 Land Memory, Science Gallery, Emory University, Atlanta, GA (forthcoming)
2022 Where the Water Goes, SALON Gallery, New Orleans, LA
2009 Come Together, Case Center Gallery, Saratoga Springs, NY
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023 ArtFields, Lake City, SC (juried) (forthcoming)
Group Show, Mont Art House, Houston, TX (forthcoming)
Transient Bodies, Roaring Artist Gallery (curated by Inge Flinte) (forthcoming)
ART PAPERS Art Auction, Atlanta, GA (forthcoming)
Be Still, Echo Contemporary Art, Atlanta, GA (curated by Erin Drakeford)
Co-Create, Stay Home Gallery, Paris, TN (curated by Kaylan Buteyn and Jamie Smith)
2022 Ensemble, Spalding Nix Fine Art, Atlanta, GA
Little Things, Swan Coach House, Atlanta, GA (curated by Jacob O’Kelley and Maria Bruckman)
Atlanta Art Week Showcase, Jennifer Balcos Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Marks of Time, Fourth Wall, New Orleans, LA
Prologue, studio activation, Echo Contemporary Art, Atlanta, GA
SALON Residents Group Show, SALON Gallery, New Orleans, LA
2021 Anthropocene Epiphany, Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Ana, CA
Magnolia Ball, Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans, LA
Natural Pigments, Pigments Revealed Symposium
Restore Mother Earth, Longue Vue House and Gardens, New Orleans, LA
2020 Hear Us Roar, Roaring Artist Gallery, virtual
Art for Activism II, Good Children Gallery, New Orleans, LA
Art for Activism, Carroll Gallery, New Orleans, LA
2009 Senior Showcase, Case Center Gallery, Saratoga Springs, NY
Lines, Case Center Gallery, Saratoga Springs, NY
2008 Selected Student Exhibition, Schick Art Gallery, Saratoga Springs, NY
CURATORIAL PROJECTS
2024 Echo Contemporary Art, Atlanta, GA (forthcoming)
2022 Earth Body, co-curation with Erin Drakeford, Echo Contemporary Art, Atlanta, GA
ARTIST RESIDENCIES
2023 Workshop-in-Residence with Judith Kugler, MASS MoCA, MA (October 4 - October 10)
Zero Foot Hills Residency, Durham, CT (July 10 - July 17)
Bell Moon Artist Residency, Hayesville, NC (June 5 - June 11)
Stay Home Gallery & Residency, Paris, TN (February 6 - February 12)
2022 SALON Residency + Gallery, Arts Council of New Orleans (February 15 - August 1)
BIBLIOGRAPHY + MEDIA
2023 Halle Parker, “Environmental Artists Reimagine Louisiana’s Future,” WWNO, New Orleans Public Radio, NPR, January 20, 2023. (forthcoming)
2022 “Heather Bird Harris: Creating in the Face of Climate Change,” Visionary Art Collective, access date: January 15, 2023. https://www.visionaryartcollective.com/interviews/heather-bird-harris
Land Art Collective, Artist Feature
Artist/Mother Network, Artist Feature
“Land, Water, Color: In the Studio with Heather Bird Harris,” In Her Studio, May 2022. 120-126.
2021 Contemporary Creatives, Artist Feature
Carve Out Time for Art, Artist Feature
ARTIST TALKS + WORKSHOPS
2023 Workshop, Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans, LA, September 13.
Workshop + Artist Talk, Bell Moon Arts, Hayesville, NC, June 24-25.
Workshop + Artist Talk, Visionary Projects, New York, NY, May 20.
2022 Artist Talk, The Writer’s Wing, SALON Residency, New Orleans, LA, June 16.
REPRESENTATION
Spalding Nix, Atlanta, GA.
Mont Art House, Houston, TX
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
Artist Mother /Thrive Network, community member + mentor artist, 2020-present
Wild Pigment Project, selected artist, Pigment People: Paint, Mineral, + Waste Stream, 2021-present
Artists Commit, artist-led collective committed to a climate-conscious future, 2021 - present
Women Eco Artists Dialog, selected artist, 2021-present
Where Y’art, selected artist, 2020-present
Turnaround Arts, President Obama’s Committee on the Arts, John F. Kennedy Center, 2015-2017
COLLECTIONS
Susan Brennan private collection, New Orleans, LA
Dr. Katharine Wilkinson, Atlanta, GA
Ochsner, New Orleans, LA