Mary Ella Dignam (Born Mary Ella Williams; 1857–1938) was a Canadian painter, teacher, and art organizer best remembered as the founder and first president of the Women's Art Association of Canada (WAAC).

Life

Mary Ella Williams was born in Port Burwell, Ontario on 13 January 1857. She studied art at the Western School of Art and Design in London, Ontario. In 1886 she went to New York City to further her training at the Art Students League, followed by time in Paris, France, at the artist's workshop run by Raphaël Collin (1850–1916) and Luc-Olivier Merson (1846–1920). In 1886, Dignam founded the Women's Art Club, which later evolved into the WAAC. During her presidency (1887-1913, 1935-1938), Dignam was the driving force behind production of the

Cabot Commemorative State Dinner Service The Canadian Historical Dinner Service, originally called the Cabot Commemorative State Dinner Service, is 204-piece eight-course dinner service with 24 place settings of hand-painted porcelain. It was created in 1896–97 to commemorate the 400th ...

. This was a hand-painted eight-course, 24-place dinner set representing Canadian subjects that had been made by WAAC members to commemorate the 400th anniversary of

John Cabot John Cabot ( it, Giovanni Caboto ; 1450 – 1500) was an Italian navigator and explorer. His 1497 voyage to the coast of North America under the commission of Henry VII of England is the earliest-known European exploration of coastal North ...

's discovery of Canada. Following her return to Canada in 1891, she taught at a ladies' art school in Toronto, Ontario and later organized the first Art Studios of Moulton Ladies' College at McMaster University. In 1898, Dignam and

Lady Edgar Matilda Ridout Edgar (29 September 1844 – 29 September 1910) was a Canadian historian and feminist. She was born Matilda Ridout, became Matilda Edgar by marriage, and became Lady Edgar in 1898 when her husband was knighted. The mother of nine ...

, wife of the Speaker of the House of Commons, arranged for members of the House and Senate to subscribe $1,000 to purchase the service, which was formally presented to Lady Aberdeen on the occasion of her husband finishing his assignment as Governor General of Canada. She later helped organize the ''International Society of Women Painters and Sculptors'' and in 1900, founded the first all-women international art exhibition calling on Women's Art Association members & Women's International Art. Dignam was a member of the Art Association of Montreal (1886-1931), the Ontario Society of Artists (1883-1912), the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (1883-1924), and the Toronto Industrial Exhibition (1891-1900). Her works were exhibited across Canada and New York, London, and Paris. Dignam exhibited her work at the Palace of Fine Arts at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois.

Death

She died 6 September 1938 in Toronto, Ontario.

References

External links

* * Canadian Women Artists History Initiative (Concordia University
DIGNAM, Mary Ella
biography {{DEFAULTSORT:Dignam, Mary 1860 births 1938 deaths Canadian landscape painters Canadian women painters 19th-century Canadian painters 20th-century Canadian painters 19th-century Canadian women artists 20th-century Canadian women artists