Education
From childhood Eleanor Milne was encouraged by her mother to draw. Following her elementary and high school education at Saint Paul's Academy, Westmount, and the Convent of the Sacred Heart at City House, Montréal and Ahunsic, Québec, Eleanor Milne enrolled at the Montréal Museum of Fine Arts School of Art and Design in 1944. She studied basic design with Dr. Arthur Lismer and Gordon Webber. While continuing her studies at the School of Art and Design, Milne negotiated a place for herself in McGill's Laboratory of Anatomy where she had the opportunity to study the human body in the operating room of Dr. Wilder Penfield, a world-renowned surgeon.

In 1946 Milne studied with sculptor John Farleigh at the London County Council Classroom image from early educationCentral College of Arts and Crafts in London, England. In addition to learning about book illustration and engraving, she visited a number of foundries where she acquired knowledge of bronze casting. Wartime England and travel to France affected Milne greatly, reinforcing her belief in the importance of artistic freedom. Unfortunately, a lengthy illness forced her to return to Montréal in 1947. After she recovered, Milne studied at l'École des Beaux-Arts de Montréal with Sylvia Daoust, specializing in sculpture and wood engraving.

Milne went on to do graduate work in 1950 at Syracuse University, New York. She studied with the Yugoslavian sculptor Ivan Mestrovic. He taught her architectural sculpture, passing on a love of Medieval art and a simplified Gothic style that would help her in her future work in the Parliament Buildings. Following graduation Milne worked as a designer for an Ottawa stained-glass firm. There she learned how to make stained and painted glass, although she never applied leading.Classroom

Constantly pushing herself to learn—from studying Canadian history as the Dominion Sculptor to her recent interest in natural and mathematical visualizations called fractals—Eleanor Milne's decision to pursue knowledge of as many art forms as possible has been a major factor in her success.