Artist, educator, interior designer.
Born at Winnipeg on 23 December 1931 to Kathleen Jane Moore (1891-1989) and Thomas Cundall Marshall (1884-1970), he was raised in the West Kildonan community and showed an early interest in painting and art. His mother found an instructor for him, Phyllis Field Cooper, who taught and instilled in him a love of painting and watercolour that stayed with him throughout his life. Upon graduating from West Kildonan Collegiate in 1948, he was the recipient of the Governor General’s Medal.
Because formal studies in fashion and costume design were not available in Canada at that time, he decided to pursue his second choice, interior design. He graduated from the University of Manitoba with a Gold Medal in 1955. Launching his professional career in the mid-1950s, he was swept up into the tailwind of Winnipeg’s postwar explosion of modern architecture, and designed interiors for many of the most significant projects of that era. These included the John A. Russell Building (1959), Monarch Life Building (1959-1963), and Manitoba Medical Service Building (1959). He also took trips to New York City’s Theatre District, where he developed his interest in costume and set design. At the same time, he was teaching at the University of Manitoba’s Interior Design Faculty, serving Head of the Department (1989-1994). He was a founding member of the Interior Designers of Canada Foundation and a Fellow of the Professional Interior Designers of Winnipeg. Among his various activities were regular trips to Toronto for the annual Interior Design Exhibition.
His first design practice, Design Associates, later became Grant Marshall Interiors Limited. He designed thousands of residential interiors in Winnipeg, Toronto, Saskatoon, Calgary, Victoria, and Florida. Importing modern furniture from Copenhagen and Marimekko fabrics from Helsinki, he heightened Winnipeggers’ sense of modern living, and gave new definition to literally thousands of homes. Working steadily until his passing at age 80, he would arrive on site as a man on a mission, with his leather satchel in hand, an authoritative black Armani coat draped over his shoulders, and his large-swatch Benjamin Moore paint catalogue from 1961 under his elbow. Many of his clients became his friends over the years. His first foray into the field of fashion led him to open The Third Step, a boutique for women’s clothing. The shop opened in 1965 and continued for 25 years. He also co-owned Casa M, which sold giftware imported from Mexico.
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. It was his costume design work for the ballet, "The Twisted Heart," that led to his marriage in 1959 to Marilyn "Marnie" Young, a principal dancer with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, whom he got to know backstage as they prepared for the production. They went on to have two children. He was a member of the boards of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, and Rainbow Stage. He chaired the decorations committee for the Winnipeg Art Gallery, designing five gala fundraisers, and sat on the advisory committee for the Manitoba Craft Guild.
Among his several awards and accolades, he was particularly proud of his receipt of The University of Manitoba Alumni Jubilee Award (1980), and the Manitoba Premier’s Award of Excellence for Interior Design for his work on the Anne Ross Daycare Centre (1985). He was inducted into the Rainbow Stage Wall of Fame in 2009. He also volunteered his design time for several non-profit institutions, including Ronald MacDonald House, where he was both a member of the steering committee and the designer. He sat on the boards of the Mount Carmel Clinic and the Anne Ross Daycare Centre in Winnipeg.
Throughout his life, watercolor painting remained his passion. He enjoyed painting en plain air as he and his wife travelled around in Europe’s cities and countryside. He exhibited his work in numerous solo shows at venues that included 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, along with Bruce Head and Winston Leathers, he opened one of Winnipeg’s first private art galleries, which was located on Osborne Street. His final exhibition of his work took place at the Pavilion Gallery Museum in Assiniboine Park shortly before his death.
He died at Winnipeg on 4 September 2012 and was buried in the Kildonan Presbyterian Cemetery.
“Saying It with Colour,” Canadian Architect, 1 January 2012.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 10 September 2012.
Grant Marshall, 1931-2012, Historical Artists, Mayberry Fine Art.
“Charles Grant Marshall,” FamilySearch Family Tree, MyHeritage
This page was prepared by Lois Braun.
Page revised: 10 June 2026
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