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A look inside Miss Piggy’s creator's art-filled Brooklyn duplex
By
Ryan Kailath
Published Nov 25, 2023
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Ryan Kailath / Gothamist
By
Ryan Kailath
Published Nov 25, 2023
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Our Cool Place series brings you into cool places. For this inaugural edition, we’re visiting Bonnie and Wayde Harrison in their duplex apartment near the Brooklyn waterfront.
Bonnie moved to New York in 1961 from her hometown of St. Paul, Minnesota, where she’d gone to art school and hung out in Dinkytown with a young Bob Dylan. He became her neighbor in Greenwich Village.
During her first year in New York City, Bonnie lived in seven different apartments, picking up temp jobs before landing a full-time gig as a theater costume designer.
In 1973, she left her Lower East Side tenement — which featured a bathtub in the living room, as well as coal deliveries hauled up to her stove each week — and moved into the Brooklyn apartment she still lives in 50 years later.
At that point, she was already working for Jim Henson, who'd seen her portfolio and put her in charge of the Muppet Workshop in 1972. While there, she created iconic characters, including Miss Piggy and Statler and Waldorf.
Bonnie Harrison moved into her Brooklyn apartment as a rental in 1973, before the building went co-op. In 1984, she and her partner Wayde bought the unit next door and combined them.
Ryan Kailath / Gothamist
The portrait by Alice Neel is of the couple’s late friend, the artist Joe Wilfer. Wayde’s cylindrical rubber-wrapped office was designed by Malcolm Holtzman.
Ryan Kailath / Gothamist
Bonnie says the two cantankerous old Muppets arguing on their balcony were inspired by the Yale Club in Manhattan.
“If I worked late, which was often, Jim would let me go home in a cab,” Bonnie said. “Every time I did that, I would go down Park Avenue around Grand Central and look into the Yale Club. And I had this vision of these two old men sitting there having their brandy and their cigars.”
The characters are named after two storied Midtown hotels — the Statler Hilton and the Waldorf Astoria.
The apartment is filled with art by their friends and acquaintances. The Chuck Close self-portrait was created out of paper, handmade by the master printer Joe Wilfer. The suit is a collaboration between Sydney Maresca and Kenneth Goldsmith, who recited stream-of-consciousness poetry for 12 hours. Each hour was transcribed and turned into a suit – theirs is 4 pm.
Ryan Kailath / Gothamist
Bonnie met Wayde through friends in their Brooklyn neighborhood. At the time, he was working as a researcher at Sloan Kettering, and they discovered his hospital and the Muppet Workshop were two blocks apart.
“So we rode the subway together, and one thing led to another,” Wayde said.
“It didn’t take long,” Bonnie adds.
Nathan Bajar for Gothamist
The couple married in 1977 and started their own business, making toys and puppets for performances and TV commercials.
In 1978, when the Philadelphia Phillies approached Henson about a mascot, he passed them along to the Harrisons, who created the Phillie Phanatic that year.
To their surprise, sports mascots became the biggest component of their business — they’ve created more than a dozen, including Youppi! (Montreal Canadiens) and Dandy, a short-lived Yankees mascot, between 1979 and 1981.
Bonnie handles the creative side of the partnership and Wayde manages the business end. During a renovation, they created dedicated work spaces in their apartment. Wayde’s “World Headquarters,” which swivels to hide from view, is reminiscent of a ship’s cabin within, complete with portholes.
The muppets of Bonnie and Miss Piggy were a gift made by puppeteer Christopher Ragg.
Ryan Kailtah / Gothamist
Ryan Kailtah / Gothamist
Bonnie’s wire portrait of Wayde hangs inside his office.
Nathan Bajar for Gothamist
While the Harrisons have works from blue-chip names, including Alice Neel and Chuck Close, they have a proclivity for finding art wherever they turn, or teaming up with friends to create it in everyday moments.
They love folk art: A wire sculpture in their guest room is from a man who lived on the street on the Upper West Side and created his work on the sidewalk.
In the hallway beside the kitchen, a panel of sprinkler controls is hidden behind a painting of a fire extinguisher made by their friend, the New Yorker cartoonist Charlie Hankin.
Nathan Bajar for Gothamist
In the 1960s, Bonnie found this flattened metal dustpan on the construction site that became Lincoln Center. Admiring its expression, she took it home, where it still hangs.
Ryan Kailath / Gothamist
The Harrisons also love thrift shops and curiosity boutiques — their apartment is a veritable gallery dedicated to New York bric-a-brac emporia that have closed over the years. They also visit galleries and bid in online auctions by Artsy or Swann.
“I do love this stuff and I love sharing how we found it,” Bonnie said. “As you can tell, there’s a story with everything.”
In third grade, Bonnie’s class had a visit from a local cartoonist. Afterward, as her teacher was throwing out his sketches, Bonnie asked to keep one. "Peanuts" was syndicated a year later. “He’s a Minnesotan,” Bonnie said. “Why do you think he likes all that ice skating?”
Nathan Bajar for Gothamist
The sculpture by Bruce Morozko, a play on Degas’ “Petite danseuse de quatorze ans,” was created for the 1984 book “Miss Piggy’s Treasury of Art Masterpieces from the Kermitage Collection."
Nathan Bajar for Gothamist
The couple created “Wild Things” toys and products for Maurice Sendak in the late 1970s and early ‘80s.
Nathan Bajar for Gothamist
“Bonnie is an extremely talented artist and creator,” Wayde said. “She will not tell you that, but I will tell you. Her ability is unique and special, and that was why we were able to start a business and make something happen.”
“I love you Wayde,” Bonnie replied.
Bonnie Harrison in her home studio.
Nathan Bajar for Gothamist
Every few years, Bonnie remakes the silk skirt for her Degas-inspired Miss Piggy sculpture. Her studio is meticulously organized.
Nathan Bajar for Gothamist
The masks at the top, which Bonnie describes as “very American,” cost her a couple dollars each. She found the marionette of Bill Clinton at a street market in Ecuador.
Nathan Bajar for Gothamist
After buying the neighboring apartment and combining it with their older one into a duplex, the couple decided one part would be the modern wing and the other, including the master bedroom, would be their “country house.”
The house’s "garage" contains a clothes closet and the "front porch" leads up to the master bathroom.
The Tiffany lamp on the nightstand features Kermit on the base and stained glass.
Ryan Kailath / Gothamist
The bedroom is designed to look like a country house.
Nathan Bajar for Gothamist
Nathan Bajar for Gothamist
While reflecting on their careers, Bonnie recounted a story she heard about a young child asking Jim Henson how he made his puppets.
“Get a group of people around you that you love, and that love you,” Henson apparently said. “Give them an idea that has enough empty space in it that they can make it their own. When you get it back, it’ll be better than you ever thought possible.”
“His answer was just so Jim,” she recalled.
Do you know a cool place you'd like to nominate for the series? Write to us at [email protected] with the subject line "Cool Place."
Alfred, who welcomes visitors in the front hallway, is a creation of the sculptor and furniture designer Andy Buck. Alfred sports different accessories throughout the year.
Ryan Kailath / Gothamist
Tagged
new york city
Cool Place
brooklyn
miss piggy
muppets
jim henson
interior design
real estate
Ryan Kailath
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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