Grant Marshall

Charles Grant Marshall (December 23, 1931 - September 4, 2012) was a Winnipeg-born artist, educator, and designer whose diverse talents enriched Manitoba's cultural landscape. Raised in West Kildonan by parents Thomas and Kathleen Marshall, he demonstrated an early aptitude for art and received formative instruction from Phyllis Field Cooper, who instilled in him a lifelong passion for painting and watercolor.

After graduating from West Kildonan Collegiate in 1948 as the Governor General's Medal recipient, Marshall pursued interior design at the University of Manitoba, graduating with the Gold Medal in 1955. This led to a distinguished academic career at his alma mater, culminating in his role as head of the Interior Design department from 1989 to 1994. As a founding member of the Interior Designers of Canada Foundation and a Fellow of the Professional Interior Designers of Winnipeg, his contributions to the profession were recognized with the University of Manitoba Alumni Jubilee Award (1980) and the Manitoba Premier's Award of Excellence for Interior Design (1985) for his work on the Anne Ross Daycare Centre.

Beyond his academic career, Marshall maintained a successful professional practice. His firm, initially called Design Associates and later Grant Marshall Interiors Limited, designed residential interiors across Canada and in Florida. His entrepreneurial spirit also led him to open The Third Step, a popular women's clothing boutique that operated for 25 years beginning in 1965, and co-own Casa M, which sold imported Mexican giftware.

Marshall was deeply involved in Winnipeg's performing arts community. He designed sets and costumes for seven Royal Winnipeg Ballet productions, as well as for the Winnipeg Contemporary Dancers and Rainbow Stage, where he was inducted into their Wall of Fame in 2009. His marriage to Marilyn "Marnie" Young, a principal dancer with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, began when they met during his costume design work for the ballet "The Twisted Heart," and lasted 53 years.

Throughout his life, watercolor painting remained Marshall's passion. He exhibited his work in numerous solo shows at venues including the Leonard Marcoe Studio Gallery and the University of Manitoba, and participated in group exhibitions at Site Gallery and the Charles Herman Gallery in Vancouver. In the 1960s, Marshall, along with Bruce Head and Winston Leathers, opened one of Winnipeg's first private art galleries on Osborne Street. His final successful exhibition closed at the Pavilion Gallery Museum in Assiniboine Park shortly before his sudden and peaceful passing on September 4, 2012.