Martina Gangle Curl

Martina Gangle Curl (December 21, 1906 – February 20, 1994) was an American artist and activist. Her murals, prints, and social activism highlighted labor rights in the United States.

Early life and education Martina Gangle Curl, born December 1906 in Woodland, Washington, was one of seven children. Born into a migrant family of Austrian and Swedish descent, Curl grew up in poverty and began work as a fruit-picker at the age of eight. She attended a small country school until 1920, when she moved to the Lents district of southeast Portland to live with her grandmother. While living with her grandmother she attended Franklin High School where she excelled in math and physics. She was arrested several times throughout her life, as she often partook in protests and demonstrations which landed her in jail. By the late 1930s her artwork became increasingly focused on her political views.

Artworks Known for her modernist approach to art, Curl often made prints using a western woodcut style.