Edgar Heap of Birds

Edgar Heap of Birds is of Tsistsistas (Cheyenne) background and is best known for his public mixed-media installations. Over the last three decades, he has utilized nontraditional media, such as billboards and traffic signage, to deliver powerful political commentary.

Heap of Birds received his Master of Fine Arts from Tyler School of Art, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1979) and his Bachelor of Fine Arts from The University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas (1976). He was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts Degree from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston, Massachusetts (2008).

Heap of Birds’ artwork was chosen by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian as their entry towards the competition for the United States Pavilion at the 52nd Venice Biennale. In 2012, Heap of Birds was one of fifty artists honored by United States Artists with an individual fellowship award of $50,000 and named USA Ford Fellow in the Visual Arts category.