FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Artist Reception for Internationally
Known Oregon Artist, Lillian Pitt.
High Desert Gallery of Central
Oregon is honored to host an artist reception for Native American
Oregon Artist, Lillian Pitt on Saturday, May 24th at High Desert
Gallery's Sisters Oregon Art Gallery. The event is free and open to
the public.
Press Release File: Download PR-HDG-LillianPitt-Recp-04152008.pdf (166.3K)
Bend, Oregon – April 15, 2008.
High Desert Gallery of Central Oregon is pleased to 
announce an
artist reception with Oregon Native American artist Lillian Pitt.
The Artist-In-Attendance Reception at High Desert Gallery in Sisters
Oregon on Saturday, May 24, 2008 from 4pm to 7:30pm will include an
extensive collection of new work including work with images from
Lillian's "Crow Takes Leave of the Family"; original
anagama masks and sculptures; limited edition bronzes, images and
forms of "She Who Watches," raku masks, sterling silver
jewelry and more. High Desert Gallery is located in downtown
Sisters, Oregon at 281 W Cascade Avenue at Oak Street. The event is
free and open to the public. The artist reception is a rare
opportunity to meet Internationally known Artist, Lillian Pitt while
enjoying great art, lively conversation, refreshments, live music and
more!
The special exhibition and sale will be
featured in the gallery from May 1 through May 31, 2008. For more
information on the artist visit: www.highdesertgallery.com or call
toll free 1-866-549-6250. High Desert Gallery is honored to
represent Lillian Pitt in Central Oregon.
About Lillian Pitt: Lillian Pitt is an
accomplished artist who has been exhibiting her contemporary
sculpture, carvings, masks, wearable art, and works on paper for over
twenty years. One of the indigenous people of the Columbia River
Gorge, she is called by her Indian name, Wak'amu (Strongly Rooted),
by elders of the Warm Springs/Wasco and Yakama tribes. The term might
also describe her art, for although her approach to form and
materials is eclectic and contemporary, her intriguing metaphors are
always rooted in her Native American tradition.
She says this about her work: “I use
the ancient stories of my ancestors as a basis for the imagery I
create. By doing this I maintain the memory of an ancient culture and
keep the beliefs of my people alive. We have forgotten how to live in
harmony with nature. Accessing this vast reservoir of traditional
information and translating it into contemporary terms jogs our
memories and provides points of reference to achieving balance within
ourselves, our community and the world. My ancestors have a
10,000-year history in the Columbia River Gorge. Much of my work has
to do with the preservation and care of the environment along this
ancient waterway.”
2007 Earle A. Chiles Award recipient
and recipient of the Governor's Award for the Arts, Oregon, in 1990,
which declared that she had made, "significant contributions to
the growth and development of the cultural life of Oregon.” She is
known nationally and internationally for her Raku and Anagama fired
ceramic and bronze masks and "Shadow Spirit" totem images
based on traditional symbols and spirits of her Columbia River
ancestors. Her repertoire has expanded to include monumental bronze
sculpture, sometimes reflecting the theme of Salmon migration. One
recurring image, "She Who Watches," is based on a Columbia
River petroglyph which represents the last of the Woman Chiefs.
Her art has been exhibited and reviewed
in the U.S., Europe, New Zealand, and Japan. Her work has been
commissioned by numerous museums and organizations and is in several
collections, including the University of Washington's Burke Museum,
the Sapporo City Hall, Sapporo, Japan and the prestigious Heard
Museum in Phoenix, AZ. A traveling retrospective of her work,
"Spirits Keep Whistling Me Home," was launched in 1999 at
the Museum at Warm Springs on her native reservation in Oregon and
has been exhibited at other museums nationwide.
With the turn of the millennium,
Lillian's art took on an even larger dimension, as she and a team of
Native American artists were commissioned by the city of Portland,
OR, the Oregon Convention Center, Portland State University, and a
variety of other municipalities, cultural institutions, and
corporations to create public art projects. She welcomes these
opportunities to share her Native American heritage and her
ecological commitment with an expanded audience.
High Desert Gallery & Custom
Framing of Central Oregon is honored to represent Lillian Pitt in
Central Oregon.
About High Desert Gallery: High Desert
Gallery & Custom Framing, The Art & Soul of Central Oregon™
is an award winning fine art and custom picture framing gallery with
retail locations in Bend, Oregon (Opening December 2008), Redmond and
Sisters Oregon specializing in Central Oregon Artists & Beyond™
and Stellar Custom Framing. High Desert Gallery honored in 2005, 2006
and 2007 by Decor Magazine as a “Top 100 Art and Frame Gallery in
America” and voted "Best Art Gallery" in Redmond, Oregon
(2006 & 2007) and Sisters, Oregon (2005, 2006). In February
2008, High Desert Gallery was awarded Top Honors in the Professional
Picture Framing Association 2007-2008 International Open Framing
Competition. For more information please visit:
www.highdesertgallery.com or call toll free 1-866-549-6250. The Art
& Soul of Central Oregon™ and Central Oregon Artists &
Beyond™ are trademarks of High Desert Gallery & Custom Framing
of Central Oregon.
Press Release Contact: T Dow
High Desert Gallery & Custom
Framing of Central Oregon
PO BOX 519 Bend, OR 97709-0519 Phone:
541-388-8964.
Web Site: www.highdesertgallery.com
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