FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Marie Butterline | 405-951-0000 | mbutterline@okcontemp.org
Media kit: bit.ly/NeufsForOklahomaAutumn
Basketball Court Mural by Edgar Heap of Birds to be Installed at Campbell Art Park
Oklahoma City, OK (March 4, 2025) — Oklahoma Contemporary is honored to present Neufs for Oklahoma Autumn, a groundbreaking basketball court installation by renowned artist Hock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of Birds (Cheyenne and Arapaho Nation). An Opening Celebration for this public art piece, an iteration of Heap of Birds' ongoing Neuf painting series begun in 1981, will be held at Campbell Art Park on May 10, 2025.
Neufs for Oklahoma Autumn transforms the traditional basketball court into a vibrant canvas, featuring imagery inspired by Oklahoma tribal lands. The court's design incorporates repeated and layered diagonal shapes of color with jagged edges, reflecting the earthly energy and deep cultural significance of the number four in Cheyenne cosmology. The term "neuf" translates to the ritualistic and cosmological importance of the number four, a recurring theme in Heap of Birds' work.
Flanking the court, the backboards will showcase elements from Heap of Birds’ Native Hosts series, honoring the Native tribes who have historically inhabited the region and emphasizing their enduring presence. Additionally, the courts’ "scoreboard" will recreate Heap of Birds’ 1982 work featured in Messages to the Public, an artist project organized by Jane Dickson through the Public Art Fund using the Spectacolor light board in Times Square.
This monumental commission combines two of Heap of Birds’ significant bodies of work for the first time, creating a meaningful connection near the artist's own tribal reservation lands. Presented in collaboration with the artist, Project Backboard and Common Practice, Neufs for Oklahoma Autumn invites the public to engage with Campbell Art Park in unprecedented ways, serving as a canvas for dialogue, contemplation and storytelling.
This installation is part of the spring 2025 exhibition Hock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of Birds: HONOR SONG, the landmark retrospective celebrating the artist's visionary 40-year career.
About the Artist
Hock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of Birds (b. 1954, Wichita, Kansas) is a multidisciplinary artist and citizen of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Nation, for which he serves as headsman of the Elk Warrior Society, instructing ceremony on tribal lands near Geary, Oklahoma. He received his BFA from the University of Kansas (1976), undertook graduate studies in painting at the Royal College of Art, London (1977), and received an MFA from the Tyler School of Art, Temple University (1979). Heap of Birds has participated in over 200 national and international exhibitions since the early 1980s, and his works are part of museum collections worldwide. He has been the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including being honored as an Awards in Art recipient by the American Academy of Arts and Letters (2024), as well as induction as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2020). From 1988 to 2018, Heap of Birds was a professor at the University of Oklahoma; served as visiting lecturer in over 14 countries; and was invited to teach at Yale University and Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town, South Africa. He is now Professor Emeritus in the University of Oklahoma Native American Studies Department and continues to live and work in Oklahoma City.
About Oklahoma Contemporary
Oklahoma Contemporary, formed in 1989 as City Arts Center by Christian Keesee and Kirkpatrick Foundation Director Marilyn Myers, is a nonprofit organization committed to providing quality, accessible and affordable arts programming. With a mission to encourage artistic expression in all its forms through education, exhibitions and performance, Oklahoma Contemporary is committed to instilling in the public a lifetime appreciation of the arts and enthusiasm for creative practice. For more information on free exhibitions, class schedules and public programs, visit oklahomacontemporary.org.
More information can be found in the media kit at bit.ly/NeufsForOklahomaAutumn. An exhibition webpage can be found at okcontemp.org/neufs. Past press releases and information are archived at okcontemp.org/media.
Image:
Installation rendering of Neufs for Oklahoma Autumn, 2025, site specific public work for Campbell Art Park. basketball court, Oklahoma City. Image by Ravyn Foltz.
