Painting with Mittens and Bananas: Heather Hurst at TEDx Skidmore

Heather Hurst received her Ph.D. in Anthropology from Yale University in 2009, with a concentration in Mesoamerican archaeology. Now at Skidmore College, Department of Anthropology, her research and teaching interests focus on artist materials and practice, ritual, architecture, archaeological methods, and cultural heritage preservation. Heather worked as an archaeological illustrator on several field projects, including excavations at Copán, Palenque, and Piedras Negras, and most recently at San Bartolo and Xultun, Guatemala, and Oxtotitlán, Mexico. Between 1999 and 2002, she and co-artist Leonard Ashby painted a watercolor reproduction of the Bonampak Murals from Chiapas, Mexico as part of the Bonampak Documentation Project directed by Dr. Mary Miller, Yale University. Heather received a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellowship in 2004.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)