Heather Bird Harris : Where the Water Goes

Heather Bird Harris is an artist, mother, and educator living in New Orleans. She makes paint from handfuls of foraged, local earth pigments and mixes it with washes of water on canvas to recreate geologic processes and process eco-anxiety. Her work explores the throughlines between land history and Louisiana’s current environmental crises as well as mothering in the face of climate change.

Harris received her BA in Art History and Studio Art from Skidmore College in 2009 and master’s degree in education leadership from Columbia University in 2013. As an educator, Harris coaches school leaders and writes anti-racist history curriculum for schools in Louisiana which is a lens that deeply informs her work. She has participated in multiple exhibitions in New York, Louisiana, and California, including "Anthropocene Epiphany" at the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art and her 2022 solo exhibition "Where the Water Goes." Harris was selected for the 2022 Arts New Orleans SALON Residency. She is represented by Cole Pratt Gallery in New Orleans and Mont Art House in Houston, Texas.