Born in Montana to Greek parents, Peter Voulkos worked his way through high school and then hitchhiked to Portland, Oregon. There he worked as an apprentice in an iron foundry until he was drafted into the U.S. Army Air Force. After the war, Voulkos studied painting and printing on the GI Bill.

Jaune Quick-To-See Smith grew up on the Flathead Reservation in Montana and traveled around the Pacific Northwest and California with her father, who was a horse trader. Smith decided she wanted to be an artist after watching a film on the French painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.

Eda Nemoede Casterton was described as a “naughty” child, because she would draw pictures on the classroom walls instead of paying attention to the teacher. After she finished school, her family discouraged her from pursuing a career in art, and she elected to study shorthand.