 Her parents were both of Polish and Russian Jewish descent.In 1989 she attained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Fine Art from Wesleyan University, where she was strongly influenced by two teachers, sculptor Jeffrey Schiff and composer Alvin Lucier.In 1996 Harrison had her first exhibition, entitled "Should home windows or shutters be required to withstand a direct hit from an eight-foot-long two-by-four shot from a cannon at 34 miles an hour, without creating a hole big enough to let through a three-inch sphere?