Consistently one of the top-selling sculptors in exhibitions, Martha's work is sought after by institutions, corporations, privately-funded sculpture gardens, and many private collectors. Recently, Martha has been awarded commissions from such prestigious names as J.P. Morgan Company, Johnson & Johnson Company's Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton, New Jersey, Anhauser Busch Company, The Irvine Company, State of Florida, University of Nebraska at Kearney, Nebraska, and the Hilton Hotel in Sedona, Arizona. Recently, her work was installed in Loveland, Colorado's Benson Park Sculpture Garden, and her "Beauty of the Harvest" was purchased by the Sandia Indian Tribe, Albuquerque, New Mexico, to greet guests of the Sandia Indian Casino. Other noteworthy collectors include The Nebraska Racing Hall of Fame, Grand Island, Nebraska; Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, New York; Guarantee Bank and Trust, Denver, Colorado; St. Vincent Hospital, Santa Fe, New Mexico; and the Museum of Nebraska Art, Kearney, Nebraska.
Featured on the cover of Southwest Art magazine, July 1998, Pettigrew says, I find the everyday tasks of the native people of the Southwest, especially the women, to be an endless source of inspiration. If I have achieved my goal as a sculptor the viewer will feel an emotional attachment and never tire of seeing the piece. The sculpture may become a source of inspiration in their lives.
Martha graduated from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. She is the recipient of many prestigious awards including; Best of Show, Western Spirit Art Show, Cheyenne Frontier Days old West Museum, Cheyenne, Wyoming; the George Phippen Memorial Foundation Award, Phippen Western Art Show, Prescott, Arizona; Allied Artists In Memoriam Award, Allied Artists of America, New York, New York; and the Silver Medal, Knickerbocker Artists U.S.A., New York, New York.
