Mary Filer, 1920 - 2016

Mary Filer was born in 1920 in Edmonton, Alberta. She lived in Regina, Saskatchewan, as a young woman, studying at Balfour Technical School in Regina with accomplished Saskatchewan artist Garnet Hazard (1939-1941) before going on to study nursing at Regina General Hospital (1941-1944). In 1944 Filer moved to Montreal to study at McGill University's Neurological Institute (1944-1946). While in Montreal, Filer studied with Arthur Lismer at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts' School of Art and Design (1944-1946) and later with John Lyman at McGill University (1948-1950), where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. Filer taught at McGill until 1952, when she went to Pennsylvania State University to earn a Master of Education degree, studying with Viktor Lowenfeld and Sybil Emerson.

Filer stayed at that institution to teach until 1955, followed by a year of teaching at New York University (1955-1956) before moving to England to continue her studies, teaching and working on her art in a variety of mediums. In 1967, she returned to Canada, settling in Vancouver, British Columbia.

As part of her master’s degree under Viktor Lowenfeld at Pennysylvania State, she created a 142-square-foot mural. Completed in 1954, “The Advance of Neurology” is at the Montreal Neurological Institute where she had done post-graduate studies, training with Dr. Wilder Penfield’s surgical team. In the mural, Filer has included self-portraits of herself as both patient and nurse. This work was selected for Heritage Status by McGill University in the 1980s.

Filer had the support of many men in her life, including Albert Henry Stewart Gillson, a keen admirer. He made a connection for her to Group of Seven artist Arthur Lismer at McGill University, considered  by Filer to be her most influential teacher.

Filer was married to Harold Spence-Sales, a professor of architecture from McGill who became the founder of Canada’s first urban planning program. For 37 years were seen as “strong personalities, playful and flirtatious” well into their later years. He died in 2004 at the age of 97.

 Filer has been called a pioneer for her sculptural glass works — often large-scale — that incorporate glass shards into expressive, colourful geometric structures.

Filer received a number of awards and honours, including an honorary degree from Simon Fraser University and a silver medal for glass design from the Royal Canadian Architectural Institute.

This portfolio of mono prints was completed in 1951. “US by ME” is a love poem. But to which lover? A handwritten scrap is included with the date of 31 - 1 - 51. The box is approximately 10.5” wide x 14” high and the pages are approximately 9.5 x 12.