Heather Bird Harris is an artist, mother, and educator based 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. “I believe the earth has a long memory and that we, often intentionally, do not. I view my roles as an artist, mother, historian, and citizen as deeply intertwined and linked to the same core responsibilities: interrogate imbalances, reckon with hard histories, create beauty, and work towards a future of natural equilibrium,” says Heather. She makes paint from handfuls of site-specific earth pigments that she mixes with washes of water and synthetic color to study the interaction between land, water, and plastics on a smaller, digestible scale. Heather 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. As an educator, Heather is a former middle school principal who now consults with school leaders and writes anti-racist history curriculum, a lens that deeply informs her art practice. She has exhibited nationally including Anthropocene Epiphany at the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art in Santa Ana, California and forthcoming “Land Memory: Environmental Justice Workshop Series + Public Art Project,” at Emory University’s Science Gallery in Atlanta, Georgia.