backstory: Reclaim
Today I’m focusing on a work in our permanent collection. Edgar Heap of Birds’ outdoor sculpture Reclaim is a customized, regulation highway sign created as a site-specific work for the Neuberger’s 1997 Biennial Exhibition of Public Art.
Heap of Birds is a member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho nations, and the site on which Reclaim now stands is part of lands originally inhabited by the Siwanoy, an Algonquian-speaking Indigenous tribe who occupied the coastal regions of Rye for fishing in warm weather and the inland regions of Harrison for hunting and gathering wood in the colder months.
In Reclaim, Heap of Birds uses the visual authority of a highway sign to question the naming and claiming of land—particularly the irony embedded in the word “Purchase.” The work invites reflection on colonial displacement and the enduring presence of Indigenous cultures. “The authoritative power of public signage is a useful strategy for issuing a change in knowledge,” the artist explains. With this piece, he asks viewers to consider how what he calls “the collapse of tribal governments, vehicular movements over colonized lands, [and] methods of territorial procurement” have shaped our understanding of history—and the Native voices that have been left out. Through public art, Heap of Birds seeks to offer what he calls a “spiritual reinstatement of rightful Indigenous awareness” and to foster open dialogue among students, staff, and visitors alike.
Where to find the work? As you drive on to campus, take a left at the Henry Moore and keep going straight. Pretty sure you can’t miss it.
Be well,
Tracy Fitzpatrick
Director, Neuberger Museum of Art
