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 The Women's Art Association of Canada (WAAC) is an organization founded in 1887 to promote and support women artists and craftswomen in Canada, including artists in the visual media, performance artists and writers. At one time it had almost 1,000 ...

(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 London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximate ...

. In 1886 she went to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

to further her training at the Art Students League, followed by time in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, France, at the artist's workshop run by

Raphaël Collin Louis-Joseph-Raphaël Collin (17 June 1850 – 21 October 1916) was a French painter born and raised in Paris, where he became a prominent academic painter and a teacher. He is principally known for the links he created between French and Japa ...

(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. 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 Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Ontario and later organized the first Art Studios of Moulton Ladies' College at McMaster University. In 1898, Dignam and Lady Edgar, 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 The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA; french: Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, MBAM) is an art museum in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the largest art museum in Canada by gallery space. The museum is located on the historic Golden Square ...

(1886-1931), the

Ontario Society of Artists The Ontario Society of Artists (OSA) was founded in 1872. It is Canada's oldest continuously operating professional art society. When it was founded at the home of John Arthur Fraser, seven artists were present. Besides Fraser himself, Marmaduke M ...

(1883-1912), the

Royal Canadian Academy of Arts The Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA) is a Canadian arts-related organization that was founded in 1880. History 1880 to 1890 The title of Royal Canadian Academy of Arts was received from Queen Victoria on 16 July 1880. The Governor General ...

(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 The Palace of Fine Arts is a monumental structure located in the Marina District of San Francisco, California, originally constructed for the 1915 Panama–Pacific International Exposition to exhibit works of art. Completely rebuilt from 1964 to ...

at the 1893

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordi ...

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