Johanna Tappert was born on October 4, 1892 in Meriden, Connecticut. She worked at the Lutheran College on 8th Street in Saskatoon from 1927 to 1933 as a high school teacher, Dean of the Girls Dormitory, and, eventually, Assistant Principal. She served as dorm mother for the girls and taught English to German immigrants on the weekends. At these classes, she met Ernest Lindner, who was subsequently given a room at the dorm in order to do his artwork. Johanna Tappert married Eugene Strack sometime around 1933. She died in Edmonton, Alberta on November 13, 1984.

Ernest (“Ernie”) Lindner was born in Vienna, Austria, on May 1, 1897. He immigrated to Canada in 1926, working initially as a farm labourer; but he soon earned recognition for his skill as an artist. He began teaching a night class for the Saskatoon Technical Collegiate in 1931. He eventually became a full-time instructor and Head of the Art Department at the Collegiate until 1962. From 1962 to 1988, he worked full-time as an artist. His work encompassed watercolour, pencil, and various forms of printmaking; and his subject matter was often drawn from life, particularly the natural world around his cabin at Fairy Island, Emma Lake, Saskatchewan. Lindner was a member and President of the Saskatoon Art Association and was one of the first members on the Saskatchewan Arts Board. Lindner received an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Saskatchewan in 1972. He was elected as a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (1977) and was made an Officer of the Order of Canada (1979). He died in Saskatoon on November 4, 1988.