A Native American artist will visit campus Thursday as part of Native American Heritage Month.

Bunky Echo-Hawk creates art in real time and will perform in the Fishback Studio Theatre of the Performing Arts Center at 6 p.m. on Nov. 5.

Sponsored by the American Indian Education and Cultural Center, Echo-Hawk will do an interactive show where he asks for thoughts and opinions from the audience and then creates a painting following the conversation.

“[Echo-Hawk] creates a story to his art and he makes it a safe and welcoming environment for everyone both native and nonnative individuals or guests to talk about history and culture and what their thoughts are on it and incorporate that into his painting,” said Derek Schmidt, a graduate assistant in the American Indian Education and Cultural Center. “It’s just a really cool way to have conversations that they might not have otherwise.”

The painting Echo-Hawk creates will be donated to the American Indian Education and Cultural Center on campus and it will be displayed in the building following the performance.

In addition, the artist will have prints available for students and community members to purchase.

“Everyone is going to be able share their thoughts and perspectives. I think that’s going to break down a lot of walls and maybe some misconceptions,” Schmidt said. This event will allow people to talk about their experiences and become more aware of people that live in the same community that come from different cultures.

“We have such a diverse campus and all of these kinds of opportunities are able to broaden our understanding of people who come from different backgrounds,” Schmidt said. “These sort of experiences are enlightening because they can teach you something you weren’t aware of and it’s just an opportunity to gain another perspective, understand another culture, understand another way of living, but then also share your own.”