Vashti Harrison (born 1988) is an American writer, illustrator and filmmaker based in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. Her book, ''Big'', received the 2024

Randolph Caldecott Medal The Randolph Caldecott Medal, frequently shortened to just the Caldecott, annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Service ...

. She was born in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

and her films and other artworks are rooted in

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

heritage and folklore.

Early life

Harrison was born in 1988 to an

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

father and an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

mother, who is from

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

. She was in TAG (Talented and Gifted) and was described as "quiet and polite student" by her TAG teacher Ms. Corson. She went to Nandua Middle in ACPS. She earned her BA in 2010 from the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

as a double major in Media Studies and Studio Art with concentrations in Film and Cinematography. She held the Aunspaugh 5th Year Fellowship in the McIntire Department of Art in 2010. She then went on to receive an MFA in Film and Video from

California Institute of Arts The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a private art university in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of bot ...

in 2014, where she attended Disney and DreamWorks Animation classes.

Career

Films

Harrison's films are experimental and rooted in

heritage and folklore. Her films have been screened at the New York Film Festival, Rotterdam International Film Festival and Edinburgh International Film Festival. She uses public appearances to offer advice for aspiring artists. * ''Field Notes'' (2014) is a visual guide to the spiritual culture of

. Harrison shares her own stories about shape-shifters and bloodsuckers, alongside the ghosts of the islands' past. In 2014 it won Best Local Short Film at the

Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival The Trinidad and Tobago film festival (ttff) is a film festival in the Anglophone Caribbean. It takes place annually in Trinidad and Tobago in the latter half of September, and runs for approximately two weeks. The festival screens feature-length n ...

. It was nominated for the Best Short Film at the 2015 Edinburgh International Film Festival. * ''Sixteen'' (2015) the coming-of-age story of Harrison's mother; a metamorphosis from a difficult childhood to beautiful adulthood. It premiered at the Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival in 2015, where it was nominated for Best Short Film. * ''Forged from the Love of Liberty'' (2016) is a poem about curses and superstitions, named after the anthem of Trinidad and Tobago. * Harrison worked as a character designer on ''

Hair Love ''Hair Love'' is a 2019 American animated short film directed by Matthew A. Cherry, Everett Downing Jr., and Bruce W. Smith, and written by Cherry. It follows the story of a man who must do his daughter's hair for the first time, and it features ...

'' (2019), a Pixar-style animated short which celebrates a positive black father-daughter relationships through the usage of black hair. The film received $284,000 Kickstarter funding, after a campaign headed by NFL wide receiver Matthew Cherry. ''Hair Love'' won Best Animated Short Film at the 92nd Academy Awards. Harrison also illustrated a children's book based on the film.

Illustration and books

Harrison used Instagram to get her first artistic commissions, through this meeting Apple which led to live drawing on iPads in New York. She was inspired to create children's picture books after moving back to

. In 2016 Harrison attended the

SCBWI The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) is a nonprofit, 501(c)3 organization that acts as a network for the exchange of knowledge between writers, illustrators, editors, publishers, agents, librarians, educators, booksellers ...

Mid-Atlantic Conference, where she entered and won a drawing competition "Draw This!" to have her illustration shared to all their industry partners. This was the beginning of her illustrating and writing career - two months later, she had an agent -

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publ ...

. Harrison illustrated Surishtha and Kabir Sehgal's ''Festival of Colours'', the story of Holi (due January 2018). Her illustrations also appear in ''Cece Loves Science'' by Kimberly Derting and Shelli R Johannes. Her book (as illustrator) ''

Sulwe ''Sulwe'' is a children's fiction picture book by actress Lupita Nyong'o. It follows the story of a young girl who wishes for her dark skin to be lighter. The story is ultimately about colorism and learning to love oneself, no matter one's skin ...

'' won a 2020 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work - Children category. In 2024, her book (as author and illustrator), ''Big'', was awarded the

''Little Leaders'' series

The bestselling book ''Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History'' tells the story of 40 African-American women who shaped history. Harrison says that she was inspired during

Black History Month Black History Month is an annual observance originating in the United States, where it is also known as African-American History Month. It has received official recognition from governments in the United States and Canada, and more recently ...

, when she began to illustrate and write about black women from American history. The book was picked up by the publishers LittleBrown Books, and has both a UK (March 2018) and US (Dec 2017) version. The book includes the stories of

Mae Jemison Mae Carol Jemison (born October 17, 1956) is an American engineer, physician, and former NASA astronaut. She became the first black woman to travel into space when she served as a mission specialist aboard the Space Shuttle ''Endeavour''. Je ...

Katherine Johnson Katherine Johnson (née Coleman; August 26, 1918 – February 24, 2020) was an American mathematician whose calculations of orbital mechanics as a NASA employee were critical to the success of the first and subsequent U.S. crewed spaceflights. ...

Maya Angelou Maya Angelou ( ; born Marguerite Annie Johnson; April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014) was an American memoirist, popular poet, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and ...

and

Alice Bell Alice Bell is an Australian screenwriter and director. Bell has written for Australian drama, including The Beautiful Lie, The Slap, Spirited, Rush and Puberty Blues. She has directed music videos for artists including Silverchair, Toni Coll ...

. It was nominated for an

NAACP Image Award The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. Similar to ...

before it was released. In January 2018 Vashti Harrison appeared on the Daily Show to discuss ''Little Leaders''.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Vashti 1988 births Living people American people of Trinidad and Tobago descent American women writers of Indian descent American women film directors American illustrators University of Virginia alumni American women illustrators People from Accomack County, Virginia Film directors from Virginia Artists from Virginia American children's writers American women children's writers 21st-century American women artists 21st-century American women writers 21st-century American artists California Institute of the Arts alumni 21st-century African-American women writers 21st-century African-American writers 21st-century African-American artists Caldecott Medal winners