Phyllis Serota was born to Jewish parents in Chicago just months before the Kristallnacht in 1938. This event, along with her experience growing up in a family that kept silent about their own personal histories and the Holocaust, would deeply influence her artistic vision later in life. She has been a full-time professional artist since 1979 and holds a BFA from the University of Victoria, where she graduated that same year. Her works have been exhibited widely in Western Canada and the United States, including at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, the University of Victoria, and galleries in Kelowna, Edmonton, Seattle, Portland and California. Her work is included in numerous public collections, including the Canadian Museum of Civilization and the Province of British Columbia. In 2011, she published Painting My Life: A Memoir of Love, Art, and Transformation, a reflection on her life’s journey as an artist.
