(Above: (Above: Blending, by Native American artist Lillian Pitt
Here’s what the White Lotus Gallery had to say about Ancient Wisdom, Present Spirits, when they opened their show of recent work by Lillian Pitt. The exhibit closes on June 11, 2022:
“It is with great honor that we welcome back Lillian Pitt to the White Lotus Gallery. Since the gallery’s first one-person show for Ms. Pitt in 2019, she continues to create and show new works of art in the Pacific Northwest and around the country.
She Who Watches is a sculpture by
Lillian Pitt; the well-known Native American artist frequently portrays the spirits and stories of her ancestors.
“From exhibitions at the Missoula Art Museum, the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture and Columbia Center for the Arts to a public artwork for the new Lake Oswego City Hall and being recognized as a History Maker by the Oregon Historical Society, Lillian Pitt strives to pay homage to her ancestors, the environment and the animals. A descendent of Warm Springs, Wasco and Yakama people, she studied designs used in rock art, baskets, beaded bags and dresses. With a wide range of media, such as clay, glass, bronze and jewelry, Ms. Pitt depicts animals and people and honors the petroglyphs and pictographs created by her ancestors along the Columbia River Gorge.
Regardless of the materials used, her contemporary works are aimed at giving voice to her people and maintaining a link with tradition.
Lillian Pitt is one of the most highly regarded Native American artists in the Pacific Northwest. Her works have been exhibited and reviewed regionally, nationally and internationally, and she has been the recipient of numerous awards and distinctions. These distinctions include the 2007 Earle A. Chiles Award for Lifetime Achievement and the 1990 Governor’s Award of the Oregon Arts Commission, which declared that she had made “significant contributions to the growth and development of the cultural life of Oregon.”
“When introducing Pitt for the 2021 History Maker Awards, Kerry Tymchuk, Executive Director of the Oregon Historical Society, said that ‘perhaps no artist [had] done more to keep the culture of Oregon’s indigenous people strong and to connect the present with the past than [Lillian Pitt.]’
“Her works are found in personal collections, art galleries and museums, such as the Portland Art Museum, the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at the University of Oregon, the Hallie Ford Museum of Art at Willamette University, the Burke Museum at the University of Washington and Maryhill Museum of Art. They are also found in numerous public spaces including parks, schools and cultural institutions throughout the region.”
Ancient Wisdom, Present Spirits
When: Through June 11, 2022
Where: White Lotus Gallery, 767 Willamette St., Eugene
Hours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday
Information: 541-345-3276 or wlotus.com
