Henrietta Shore was bornon January 22, 1880 to a wealthy Toronto family and received strong encouragement for her early interest in art. Following studies in Toronto, New York, and London, Shore traveled along the West Coast and settled in Southern California in 1913.

In 1920, she moved to New York where she worked and exhibited for several years with a group of prominent "modernist" artists including Georgia O'Keefe. A six month trip to Mexico in 1827 was a turning point in Shore's life and art. She became friends with Diego Rivera and Jose Clemente Orozco.

She moved to Carmel in 1930 and resumed her collaboration with photographer Edward Weston whom she met in the 20s. She submitted drawings for WPA murals in Santa Cruz USPO, Monterey USPO, and the Old Customs House in Monterey. The series was approved. She completed the work in the Santa Cruz USPO in 1936. However, she fell from national recognition in the ‘40s. Shore left Carmel in 1958 and died penniless in San Jose May 17, 1963.