The Harrison Studio

The Harrison Studio consists of Helen Mayer Harrison (1927–2018) and Newton Harrison (1932–2022) who are among the earliest and the best known social and environmental artists. Often simply referred to as “The Harrisons”, Helen and Newton have produced multimedia work across a vast range of disciplines. They worked in collaboration with biologists, ecologists, historians, activists, architects, urban planners and fellow artists to initiate dialogues and create works exploring biodiversity and community development. Helen and Newton Harrison were both Professors Emeriti at University of California, Santa Cruz, and University of California, San Diego. They have had numerous international solo exhibitions and their work is in the collections of many public institutions including the Pompidou Center, the Museum of Modern Art, the San Jose Museum of Art, the Nevada Museum of Art, and the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art. In 2013 the Harrisons became the first recipients of the Corlis Benefideo Award for Imaginative Cartography. Stanford University Libraries acquired The Helen and Newton Harrison Papers, an extensive archive that documents their life and work with a significant amount of audiovisual material and born-digital files.

Early life and education

Helen Mayer was born on July 1, 1927, in the easternmost borough of New York City Queens to an academic family: Both parents were schoolteachers, and her father a mathematician. Helen graduated Forest Hills High School in 1943 at sixteen years old, earning a full tuition scholarship to Cornell University. At Cornelle, she was encouraged to study mathematics due to her natural ability, but instead majored in psychology for two years; ultimately she returned home to earn her bachelor's degree in English from Queens College in 1948.