Lillian Prest Ferguson

Lillian Prest Ferguson (August 18, 1867 - February 1, 1955) was a Canadian-born painter known for her involvement and influence on the California art community.

Lillian Prest Ferguson was born August 18, 1867, in Windsor, Ontario. Her father, Thomas Prest, was a bank and real estate broker and her mother, Sarah Smith, was the daughter of Guelph, Ontario's first mayor. Her parents moved the family to the Northwest and was sent to school at a convent in St. Boniface, Manitoba, where she first received art training. Together they had three children: Dorothy, Warren and Harold. She lived in Riverdale for several years before moving to Los Angeles.

In addition to portraiture, Ferguson was known for California themed paintings of florals and missions, as well as for her pottery work. She was a charter member of the Laguna Beach Art Association and was a founder of the Women Painters of the West. Ferguson also operated one of the first pottery kilns in Laguna Beach. Of her impact on the Laguna Beach art community The San Bernardino County Sun referred to her in 1928 as "a talented painter and craftsman of great skill who loved and painted spots of Laguna Beach long before colonies and galleries were thought of in the then quiet spot."

Ferguson died February 1, 1955, and was buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.