1

John Grayson and Vaughan
1898
Moose Jaw, SK

Credits:
Moose Jaw Museum & Art Gallery

2

Vaughan Grayson was not the first painter to tour the Rocky Mountains, but her mature and emotional connection with them is worthy of recognition. She was a girl born on the bald prairie, outside of Moose Jaw when Moose Jaw was in its infancy, yet she developed a profound relationship with the Canadian Rockies and the Okanagan Valley, and spent her whole life sharing that relationship with the rest of the world.

3

Grayson Home
Circa 1900
Moose Jaw, SK

Credits:
Moose Jaw Museum & Art Gallery

4

Ellen Vaughan Kirk Grayson was born in 1894 on a farm just outside of Moose Jaw, SK. Her family settled into a house near the centre of town shortly after her birth. Grayson grew up on Main Street, which she described as "much rutted by wagon wheels and carriages" in the days of her childhood. She grew up with the city as it expanded after the turn of the century. She attended Victoria School until Alexandra School was built, and in 1910 was part of the first class to attend Central Collegiate, the first collegiate in Saskatchewan.

5

Family
1910
Moose Jaw, SK

Credits:
Moose Jaw Museum & Art Gallery

6

Vaughan Grayson's father, John Hawke Grayson, had settled in the Moose Jaw area in 1883, and married Adela Babb, from Manitoba. Vaughan was one of two children, along with her younger brother Keith.
She was born into an affluent family. Her father, John Hawke Grayson, served as an alderman and as Moose Jaw's first postmaster. Her uncle was William Grayson, a prominent lawyer and one of the town's first mayors, and it was through him that she was first exposed to art.

7

Girl Guides
Circa 1905
Moose Jaw, SK

Credits:
Moose Jaw Museum & Art Gallery

8

Painting at the Beach
1924
British Columbia

Credits:
Moose Jaw Museum & Art Gallery

9

William Grayson had amassed a collection of about 60 pieces of art from his travels. Vaughan Grayson developed a deep fascination for art, and, imagining that she would not be able to afford to buy paintings, she decided to paint them herself. She enjoyed drawing as a child, and received lessons from a local artist named Gertrude Rorason. There are few remaining examples of her very early work, but it was probably influenced by her uncle’s collection.

10

Keith and Vaughan at Banff
1909
Banff Park, AB

Credits:
Moose Jaw Museum & Art Gallery

11

When she was 14, her family travelled by train to the Rocky Mountains. This trip changed Grayson's life; it began what would become a lifelong kinship with the Rockies. Her father and uncle were well-travelled themselves, and her family's prosperity allowed plenty of opportunity to see the world. After finishing high school, she went to Europe, South America, South Africa, and Egypt with her cousin Ethel Kirk Grayson.

12

Moose Jaw River
1920-30
Moose Jaw, SK

Credits:
Moose Jaw Museum & Art Gallery

13

Nurse
1918
Moose Jaw, SK

Credits:
Moose Jaw Museum & Art Gallery

14

In 1918, she worked as a nurse, treating victims of the Spanish Influenza epidemic.