The Harrison Studio

The Harrison Studio consists of Newton Harrison (1932-2022) and Helen Mayer Harrison (1927-2018). Often simply referred to as “The Harrisons,” the husband-and-wife team were leading pioneers of the Ecological Art movement. Although contemporaries of other Land Artists such as Robert Smithson or Walter de Maria, a forthright activism sets The Harrison Studio apart. Their aim was really for their art to inspire change. During their prolific fifty-year career, the Harrisons produced work across a vast range of disciplines, working in collaboration with biologists, ecologists, historians, activists, architects, urban planners, and fellow artists to initiate dialogues and create works exploring biodiversity and community development. They worked across performance, photography, drawing and painting, shifting the parameters of each piece to best suit the needs of each project. Their earliest collaborative work Making Earth was created in 1970, where Newton performatively combined sand, clay, sewage, manure, leaves and worms to generate arable earth which he watered and turned over the course of four months. Helen documented this process and then used the soil to grow strawberries for her piece Making Strawberry Jam, 1972. This organic, responsive methodology was sustained throughout their career, as they continually championed the need to collaborate with nature as opposed to mastering it.