About Nance
Nance O’Banion (1949-2018) was both an artist of international renown, with works in collections and public spaces around the world, and professor at California College of the Arts for over 40 years. Many of her students went on to become lifelong friends, and she continued to guide and inspire them as they became outstanding artists in their own right. Nance’s Oakland studio was not only a place to create her own art, but also a salon of ideas and dialogue and collaboration.
At CCA Nance taught innovative programs in the fine arts with a focus on printmaking, textiles, and book arts. She led courses within the individualized major and graduate programs which, like the arc of her own work, transcended disciplines and media. During her tenure she served as Printmaking Chair and President of the Faculty Senate, as well as being a mentor to individual faculty. Nance was the recipient of two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Nance was also one of a group of artists who joined founder Gyöngy Laky in 1973 at Fiberworks Center for the Textile Arts in Berkeley, to help guide the new experimental organization’s classes, gallery exhibitions, and diverse public programs. After joining the CCA faculty in 1974, Nance continued to play an important role at Fiberworks as both teacher and advisor, and her ongoing contributions helped establish its international reputation as an innovative contemporary arts institution.
The arc of Nance’s artwork ranged from large public works to unique limited edition books to drawn and painted tablets. Over the last two decades, her work underwent a striking transformation, both in scale and in content, from the abstract to the symbolic. This was due in part to neurological changes and their resulting perceptual insights, but also to a growing desire to communicate a more intensely personal vision in her work. Yet this work, although deliberately introspective and reflective of her own dreaming and waking life, is at the same time universal: many viewers are surprised to encounter images that strike a deep archetypal chord, and resonate with their own experiences.
Nance left us with a beautiful legacy, in the art she created, the generations of students she inspired and mentored, and the community of artists she nurtured and energized. Even as her physical body took its course, her strength and positive energy kept the sparks flying, and she led an active and creative life right to the end. We lost Nance far too soon, but the fires she lit in each of us continue to burn.