The original 1972 installation of Portable Orchard at the Art Gallery at California State University, Fullerton provided opportunities for the Harrisons to engage with the university and local communities, including an opening feast that invited visitors to participate directly in the artwork by sampling Helen Harrison’s citrus-based recipes. In preparation for the project, Fullerton students shared research on potential tree species with the Harrisons and later raised funds for their student-run art gallery group through the sales of prints and young trees, which were available for purchase at the front desk. The project—referred to as “A Self-Producing Module” on the gallery’s entry wall—was initially credited solely to Newton Harrison. It wasn’t until later in the decade that Helen Harrison’s contributions were formalized under the moniker “The Harrisons” or “The Harrisons Studio.”
Survival Piece #5: Portable Orchard, 1972–73 (installation view, Art Gallery at California State University, Fullerton)
Archival material related to the exhibition of Portable Orchard: Survival Piece #5 (A Self-Producing Module) at the University Archives and Special Collections, California State University, 1972 (facsimile). Department of Special Collections, Stanford University Libraries.
Archival materials related to the exhibition of Portable Orchard: Survival Piece #5 (A Self-Producing Module)
Archival material related to the exhibition of Portable Orchard: Survival Piece #5 (A Self-Producing Module) at the University Archives and Special Collections, California State University, 1972 (facsimile). University Archives and Special Collections, California State University, Fullerton
Archival materials related to the exhibition of Portable Orchard: Survival Piece #5 (A Self-Producing Module)
