Nancy Friese received her BS from the University of North Dakota, and her MFA from Yale University. In 2011, Nancy Friese was elected as an Academician to the the National Academy of Design in New York. Friese's work is held in numerous public and private collections including the Boston Public Library, MA; Florence Griswold Museum, CT; Hammer Museum, UCLA, CA; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC; Muscarelle Museum of Art, VA; Museum of Fine Arts Boston, MA; the New York Public Library, NY; North Dakota Museum of Art, ND; the RISD Museum, RI; and the Yale University Art Gallery, CT, among many others.