California Thorson is a M.F.A in Design and Technology candidate with a focus in costume technology at The University of Texas at Austin. She began teaching herself to sew at the age of ten and, by high school, was volunteering as a costumer for both local and school productions in the upper North Woods of Minnesota. She later received her B.A. from Concordia College in Moorhead, where she studied English Literature, history and philosophy. During this time she also backpacked parts of Europe, Asia and Africa. After graduating, she got a position at Kings Dominion amusement park where she worked as a costume technician for a variety of venues, creating pieces for outdoor theatre, haunted houses, walk-around characters and traditionally staged shows.