# Lillian Pitt > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Lillian_Pitt > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Lillian_Pitt.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lillian_Pitt > Source revision: 1348663473 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Infobox artist | name = Lillian Pitt | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1943}} | birth_place = [Warm Springs Reservation](/source/Warm_Springs_Reservation), Oregon | citizenship = [Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon](/source/Confederated_Tribes_of_the_Warm_Springs_Reservation_of_Oregon) and [American](/source/Americans) | field = Mask-making, [ceramics](/source/Ceramic_art), and [mixed media](/source/mixed_media) | education = Mt. Hood Community College | website = {{URL|lillianpitt.com}} }} '''Lillian Pitt''' (born 1943) is a [Native American](/source/Native_Americans_in_the_United_States) artist from the [Columbia River](/source/Columbia_River) [Plateau](/source/Indigenous_peoples_of_the_Plateau) region of the [Pacific Northwest](/source/Pacific_Northwest){{Cite web |last=admin |date=2012-09-01 |title=Returning to Roots |url=https://1859oregonmagazine.com/think-oregon/art-culture/2012-september-october-1859-artist-in-residence-lillian-pitt/ |access-date=2026-04-13 |website=1859 Oregon's Magazine |language=en-US}}. Her Native American name is '''Wak'amu''' ([camas root](/source/camas_root)), chosen because it represents a "stubborn plant that won't let go of the earth", referring to the long periods of time she spent wandering the hills during her childhood.{{cite news |last=Hancock |first=Shirley |date=1 September 2012 |title=Returning to Roots |url=https://1859oregonmagazine.com/2012-september-october-1859-artist-in-residence-lillian-pitt |newspaper=[1859](/source/1859_(magazine)) |location=[Bend, Oregon](/source/Bend%2C_Oregon) |publisher=Deschutes Media |accessdate=15 April 2014}} Pitt is primarily known for her sculpting and mixed media artistry, which focuses on 12,000 years of Native American history and tradition of the Columbia River region.{{cite web |last1=Dobkins |first1=Rebecca |title=Lillian Pitt (1944-) |url=http://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/pitt_lillian_1944_/ |website=[The Oregon Encyclopedia](/source/The_Oregon_Encyclopedia) |publisher=[Portland State University](/source/Portland_State_University) |accessdate=11 April 2014}} ==Early life and education== Pitt, who is [Wasco](/source/Wasco-Wishram) and [Yakama](/source/Yakama), was born and grew up on the [Warm Springs Reservation](/source/Warm_Springs_Reservation) in 1944. Later, after graduating from [Madras High School](/source/Madras_High_School), she moved to [Portland, Oregon](/source/Portland%2C_Oregon), in the early 1960s. Due to a back issue, she decided to take art classes at [Mount Hood Community College](/source/Mount_Hood_Community_College) and practice designing ceramic masks in 1981. Some of her early influences included the sculptor and painter [R.C. Gorman](/source/R.C._Gorman) ([Navajo Nation](/source/Navajo_Nation)) and Japanese mask-making and ceramic practices such as [Raku](/source/Raku_ware) and [Anagama](/source/Anagama).{{cite book |last=Reno |first=Dawn E. |title=Contemporary Native American Artists |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9_5FToGzwHEC |date=1 July 1995 |publisher=Alliance Publishing |location=[Brooklyn, NY](/source/Brooklyn%2C_NY) |isbn=9780964150966 |accessdate=15 April 2014}} ==Career== ===Columbia River iconography=== Lillian Pitt is also known for her [iconography](/source/iconography), in which she works to identify ancestral Columbia River [petroglyphs](/source/petroglyphs) in order to affirm the Indigenous presence in the region. Pitt is skilled in reanimating ancient images illustrated on rocks. And in the 1990s, she experimented with several mediums, including precious metals to create jewelry, bronze masks, and sculptures. She has also collaborated with the [Pendleton Woolen Mills](/source/Pendleton_Woolen_Mills) to create blankets representing the Columbia River legends and petroglyphs. In 2000, the [Army Corps of Engineers](/source/United_States_Army_Corps_of_Engineers) commissioned her to create bronze plaques on petroglyph imagery for Columbia River tribal fishing sites, which were flooded by a dam. During the same year, she was awarded a fellowship from Portland's Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center to create large-scale bronze sculptures. She had also started several public arts projects in the early 2000s, in collaboration with artists such as [Rick Bartow](/source/Rick_Bartow) ([Wiyot](/source/Wiyot)), [Gail Tremblay](/source/Gail_Tremblay) ([Onondaga](/source/Onondaga_people)/[Mi'kmaq](/source/Mi'kmaq)), and [Elizabeth Woody](/source/Elizabeth_Woody) ([Navajo](/source/Navajo_people)/[Warm Springs](/source/Warm_Springs_(tribe))/[Wasco](/source/Wasco-Wishram)/[Yakama](/source/Yakama)), who is also her niece. Pitt is a significant partner of the [Confluence Project](/source/Confluence_Project), a collaborative effort of Pacific Northwest tribes that stretches 450 miles from near the mouth of the Columbia River to the confluence of the [Clearwater](/source/Clearwater_River_(Idaho)) and [Snake River](/source/Snake_River) in Idaho. Renowned artist [Maya Lin](/source/Maya_Lin), civic groups from Washington and Oregon, and other artists, architects, and landscape designers have also participated. Pitt designed a Welcome Gate for the river side of the Land bridge that reachers oars inset with glass masks honoring [Chinook](/source/Chinookan_peoples) women.{{cite web |url=http://www.iaia.edu/museum/vision-project/artists/lillian-pitt/ |title=Lillian Pitt |last1=Mattes |first1=Catherine |date= |website=IAIA.edu |publisher=[Institute of American Indian Arts](/source/Institute_of_American_Indian_Arts) |accessdate=15 April 2014}} == Exhibitions == * 1997 ''In Search of Self'', Ft. Lewis College Art Gallery, Durango, Colorado * 1996 ''Native American Tradition/Contemporary Responses'', Society for Contemporary Crafts, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; ''Forest Spirits'', Quintana Gallery, Portland, Oregon; Detroit Gallery, Detroit, Michigan * 1995 ''Plateau-Spirits'', Quintana Gallery, Portland, Oregon; Memorial Union Gallery, University of California, Davis * 1994 ''Plateau-Spirits: Works by Lillian Pitt'', Institute of American Indian Studies, Washington, Connecticut; ''Honoring Our Ancestors'', Quintana Gallery, Portland, Oregon * 1993 Governor's Office, Salem, Oregon * 1992 ''Out of the Earth'', Salishan Lodge, Gleneden Beach, Oregon * 1991 Spirit Square Art Center, Charlotte, North Carolina; Galleria Posada, Sacramento, California{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/womenartistsofco00farr|title=Women artists of color : a bio-critical sourcebook to 20th century artists in the Americas|date=1999|publisher=Greenwood Press|others=Farris, Phoebe, 1952-|isbn=0313303746|location=Westport, Conn.|oclc=40193578|url-access=registration}} ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20140517163738/http://lillianpitt.com/ Official website] {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Pitt, Lillian}} Category:1944 births Category:Living people Category:Artists from Portland, Oregon Category:Mt. Hood Community College alumni Category:20th-century Native American women Category:20th-century American artists Category:20th-century American women artists Category:20th-century Native American artists Category:21st-century Native American women artists Category:21st-century American artists Category:21st-century American women artists Category:21st-century Native American artists Category:Native American women artists --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Lillian Pitt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lillian_Pitt) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lillian_Pitt?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.