Creating the Dinner Service
 
Mary Dignam, Founding President, WAAC
Mary Dignam, Founding President, WAAC

 
Bronze plaque - PCD 98-129-065
Bronze plaque of Mary Ella Dignam by Frances Loring
Commissioned by members of the Women's Art Association and friends to mark the 50th Anniversary (1936) of its founding
Courtesy of the Women's Art Association of Canada, Toronto

 

Mary Ella Dignam, founding President of the Women's Art Association of Canada (WAAC), remained in that position for several years. She was a versatile artist, working in pastels, water-colours and oils. Born in Port Burwell, Ontario in 1860, she had received her very first instruction in art in London, Ontario, and from there had gone on to many years of success as an artist, speaker and writer, teacher and organizer. She was the originator of the proposal for a commemorative dinner service for Lady Aberdeen in 1896.

Until her death in 1938, Mrs. Dignam continued to work as an artist and as an advocate of art and the women of Canada, seeking opportunities for women to participate as equals in society and in art. The honour bestowed on her at the WAAC celebrations in 1936 was for her the ultimate recognition - that of her peers.

 
 

WOMEN'S ART ASSOCIATION OF CANADA
MARY DIGNAM | THE ARTISTS

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