Martha Cole

Martha Cole attended the University of Washington in Seattle where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in sculpture (1970). Cole worked as the slide librarian in the University of Toronto's Fine Arts Department after she moved back to Canada in 1970. She earned a Bachelor of Education in Art from the University of Toronto with a secondary focus in Librarianship (1972). She taught art at the high school level at a metropolitan Toronto school. In 1978, Cole moved back to Saskatchewan and bought the United Church in Disley, Saskatchewan. She began to create her first fabric landscapes in 1978, inspired by the surrounding countryside. In the 1980s, Cole also began to create artist's books. Two work by Cole are in the collection of the Mackenzie Art Gallery: Cygnus Spiral Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy (1986) and Elemental Blue: Water (2003) In 2002, Cole was affected by the demolition of the elevator in Disley, which she realized was connected to the self-identification of people who have grown up on farms and small towns in the province. This led to the show "The Survivors," which toured in twenty-nine galleries in rural Saskatchewan in 2005. The primary images were grain elevators which are still standing in various towns around the province. Cole, in addition to artists Shannon Carson, Madeline Lepage, and Fenella Temmerman came up with the exhibition, which was inspired by a song by Carolyn McDade, who is a composer, social activist, and environmentalist. The project began in 2010 and has been shown in more than 50 venues across North America. == Awards ==