From 1947 to 1948 Eleanor Milne studied engraving and sculpture at l'École des Beaux-Arts de Montréal under the instruction of Sylvia Daoust. Eleanor Milne won numerous prizes for the work she produced while at the school, including first prize for her first- and second-year wood engraving, and first prize for fourth-year sculpture.

L'École des Beaux-Arts was founded in 1923 as part of a social project for the expansion of intellectual and creative life in francophone Québec. During this period of time other key Québec cultural institutions, such as the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Québec, the Monument National and the National Archives were created. The building for l'École des Beaux-Arts de Montréal, located on Saint Urbain Street, was designed by Jean-Omer Marchand and Ernest Cormier. Marchand's "Beaux-Arts" style, which he introduced into his design with John A. Pearson for the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa in 1916, was used for the granite art school building.

The school was modelled on l'École des Beaux-Arts de Nantes, and both schools were inspired by Paris. The Montréal school featured two academic disciplines of the "pure" arts: architecture and fine arts. Industrialization was the focus for the first two decades.

World War II introduced progressive avant-garde experimentation to the school. This influenced the teaching when Eleanor Milne was a student there. The 1948 publication of the Prisme d'Yeux manifesto by Jacques de Tonnancour, professor at the Montréal Museum of Fine Arts School of Art and Design, and the Refus Global manifesto by Paul-Émile Borduas, professor at l'École du Meuble, stimulated the production of experimental art in Québec.