Perseverance lies at the core of artist Lillian Pitt. When frozen pipes burst and flooded her art studio for days during Portland’s week-long deep freeze in January 2024, destroying all of her equipment and years of creative work, Pitt, having just turned 80, asked herself if it was finally time to call it quits.
Nearly a year later, on a crisp fall morning, Pitt reaches for a thin purple pen. She sits on her back patio, putting the finishing touches on her latest artwork—a small anthropomorphic figure cut from a flat piece of plywood, with a one-inch-diameter convex seashell placed at the top, suggesting an abstract face that reflects the morning light from its iridescent surface.
“I’m making the Star People,” Pitt explains as she runs the purple pen across the figure’s grainy wooden surface. “The stars brought these people to us to help us live better, be kind, and be thoughtful to each other.”
Nearby, her new studio is nearing completion. Thanks to the support of friends and the larger community, she successfully raised enough money to repair the water damage. Soon, the small outbuilding behind her house will once again provide a space for her to create, allowing Pitt to produce her elegant and welcoming pieces.
A Journey of Discovery
Pitt was born in 1943 on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation in Central Oregon. As a child, she was surrounded by the creativity of her elders, who did beadwork and other traditional Native art. Her father was a singer and played on a local baseball team.
“The Indians and the white guys always fought,” she recalls. “They ended up fighting each other after every single game. It was no fun.”
After graduating from Madras High School in the early 1960s, Pitt wanted to escape the local prejudice and set her sights westward toward Portland.
She found her footing in the city, building a successful career as a beautician. But life soon took an unexpected turn, setting her on a path of self-discovery and deepening her connection to her Indigenous roots. When chronic back pain forced her to quit hairdressing in the 1970s, Pitt, searching for a new way forward, turned to art.
“That’s what changed my life—touching clay. Feeling it, smelling it in all its stages, from moisture to dryness to fire. It just seemed to tie me to Mother Earth.”
Artist Lillian Pitt creating Raku fired clay mask, circa mid 1980's.
courtesy Lillian Pitt
Though she knew she had found something profound, she was uncertain about her path forward. Seeking guidance, she returned to Warm Springs to speak with her elders—a visit that led to a revelation about the place she had always called home.
“I asked them, ‘Who am I? Who are my people, and where are we from?’”
Pitt was stunned to learn that her ancestors had originally lived along the Columbia River Gorge for thousands of years before being relocated to Warm Springs in the mid-1800s by the U.S. government. She had always believed her people were from the high desert of Central Oregon, but in reality, their true homeland was along the river.
Through this discovery, she learned of the rich history of her people in the Gorge, etched in the powerful and vivid petroglyphs along the Columbia River. Among them was the image that would become central to her work—She Who Watches.
“When I finally saw She Who Watches, I felt a profound sense of identity and strength that no one can take away from me, ever,” Pitt remembers. “I just felt like—I’ve been found. I found myself.”
A Legacy in Art
Pitt’s artistic career spans large and small, humble yet grand. From fine jewelry and tiny clay animals to monumental public works, her pieces can be seen across the state. One can see her public art along Portland’s Light Rail stations, South Waterfront’s River Guardian, the Welcome Gate on the Vancouver Land Bridge, and her sculptures at Portland State University’s Native American Student and Community Center, a building designed by her close friend and architect Donald Stastney.
Detail of The Welcome Gate at the Vancouver Land Bridge by artist Lillian Pitt.
Jacob Pander / OPB
“What Lillian does is place herself in the current timeline, but as a guardian of the past,” Stastney said. “But I also feel as a visionary for the future.”
Pitt continues to look ahead, persevering, creating, and educating. Recently, the Architecture Foundation of Oregon honored her at its annual Honored Citizen Awards for her impact on the built environment, her dedication to keeping Oregon’s Indigenous stories alive through public art, and her commitment to mentoring the next generation of Native American artists.
In Pitt’s honor, the AFO established the Tsagaglalal (She Who Watches) Scholarship fund, which supports non-graduating Indigenous students of U.S. states and territories, pursuing a degree in art or architecture at Portland State University.
Back at home, as Pitt puts the final touches on one of her latest Star People, she looks forward to getting back to work in her new studio.
“One of the things that really inspires me to continue with my public art is to let people know—we’re still here.”
