Cathryn Aison

Cathryn Aison is an artist and animator from New York who produced several films for Sesame Street in the 1970s.

As a child, Aison studied dance with Martha Graham, and later attended the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh for Architecture before switching her major to Fine Arts in pursuit of Industrial Design. After joining The Art Students League of New York, she worked in publishing before studying animation through courses at NYU's School of Visual Arts with Disney and Fleischer animator Shamus Culhane. She produced several student films before working regularly as an animator on the ABC TV series Make a Wish from 1972 to 1976, and its replacement Animals, Animals, Animals.

In 1975, she created her first film for Sesame Street, followed by at least five other projects. She's most commonly asked about her collaboration with Philip Glass, a series of shorts called "Geometry of Circles". In 2012, she recalled:

"In the back of my mind, my film "Geometry of Circles", which I conceived and created in 1979, has always been a source of pride for me. I love the fact that it travelled around the world anonymously and was seen by many, many children for years and years. Over the years I have encountered people who have seen it and been influenced by it. It is always a treat to hear them say something and I love showing it to my grandchildren. It is quite an honor, and a surprise, to have it now included in the Century of the Child, Growing by Design show at MoMA."