Ethel Louise Coe, an artist and educator, was born in Chicago, Illinois, on November 11, 1878. She studied at the Art Institute of Chicago between 1897 and 1901, graduating cum laude with a diploma. She pursued further advanced studies there from 1901–1903 and again from 1906–1907, during which time she served as an assistant instructor in the Saturday Juvenile Class. Coe later joined the Institute’s faculty as a full-time member, a position she held until 1930.

While teaching, she also continued her artistic training. From 1909 to 1910, she studied with Charles W. Hawthorne in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and from 1911 to 1913 she trained under Joaquim Sorolla y Bastida in Madrid, Spain. In addition to her work at the Art Institute, Coe also taught at the University of Chicago (1919–1923), Northwestern University (1923–1926), and Sarah Lawrence College (1928–1931).

Her travels played a major role in her art. Coe spent time painting and sketching in Spain, France, Morocco, and Tangier, as well as in Taos, New Mexico, where she began spending summers in 1915. She later spent summers in California as well. Works from these travels were featured in prominent exhibitions, including Water Jar of Santa Clara at the Museum of New Mexico in Santa Fe; Pueblo Mother and Child and Late Afternoon, Taos, New Mexico at the Artists of Chicago and Vicinity exhibitions; and California Sunlight at the National Arts Club in New York.

Her work was also shown at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and the Evanston Art Center.

Ethel Coe passed away on March 22, 1938, in Evanston, Illinois.