"Harriet Burns: A Lovely First Lady" (Gouache and Acrylic; 2015) What makes Harriet Burns such a legend, even beyond her outstanding work for Imagineering, is the fact that she was such a pioneer; Harriet was the first female ever hired by Walt Disney Imagineering in a creative capacity. She worked right alongside men in the model shop, next to saws, sanders, drills, and the like, yet remained the best-dressed of the bunch. “It was the 1950s,” she later explained. “I wore color-coordinated dresses, high heels, and gloves to work. Girls didn’t wear slacks back then, although I carried a pair in a little sack, just in case I had to climb into high places.” She was WED’s “First Lady,” and a lovely one at that!

Harriet had her hand in several projects throughout her career with Disney. She began painting and building set pieces for “The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse”, then moved on to design the Clubhouse itself! She moved to WED Enterprises (Walt Disney Imagineering) at its very beginning days, and the work completed here is just far too immense to do any kind of justice in this post alone. In short, it was Harriet who built the model for the Matterhorn. It was Harriet who built the scaled models of both Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion. She built the models for New Orleans Square, she painted the set pieces for Disneyland’s Submarine Voyage. It was Harriet who built the model for Sleeping Beauty’s Castle, the ultimate icon.

This print is an excellent gift for the ultimate Disneylander, the avid Disney Historian, future Imagineer, or fan of Harriet Burn's fantastically prolific career with Disney! 

At this time, the original piece will not be for sale, so please enjoy a print of this piece in the original 8"x10" format!