Light, Beauty, and Mastery: The Art of Nancy Howe
The Woman Behind the Artistry
SPI is pleased to announce that on October 16, 2025, we will be recording the personal narrative of Nancy Howe, a nationally recognized artist whose oil paintings have earned wide acclaim for their refined realism and quiet strength. Beyond her artistry, she is a trailblazer in the traditionally male world of wildlife art, one of the first women to achieve top honors in the field.
Working from her Vermont studio since the late 1980s, Nancy pursued her art without formal training. Otherwise, and stunningly said, Nancy is self-taught. Her subjects are wide-ranging, from birds and animals to landscapes, still lifes, and figures. Her paintings are admired for their detail, clarity, and presence.
Pioneering Achievements in Wildlife Art
Nancy achieved several historic “firsts” for women in her field:
The first woman to win the Federal Duck Stamp Competition (established in 1934), which she won for the 1991–92 stamp, the nation’s longest-running wildlife art contest. (Shown below, center).
Selected Featured Artist (1999) at the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition, one of the country’s largest wildlife art shows.
Honors and Recognitions
Her accomplishments extend well beyond those milestones:
Named Master Wildlife Artist by the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum’s Birds in Art exhibition (2005).
Repeatedly juried into Birds in Art, a premier international showcase, since 1990.
Exhibited for many years in the Artists of America Show in Denver and the Great American Artists Exhibition in Cincinnati.
Signature Member of the Society of Animal Artists since 1992.
Signature Member of Oil Painters of America since 2002; elevated to Master Signature Member in 2013.
Winner of Oil Painters of America’s Gold Medal Master Signature Division & Purchase Award (2022).
Recipient of the International Masters Award and Patron’s Choice Award at the International Masters of Fine Art Invitational.
Honored with awards, including the Dick Blick Art Award from the American Tonalist Society (2023).
Works are held in major permanent museum collections, including the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson, Wyoming, and the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum.
Contributing artist in several art publications, including Wildlife Art: Sixty Contemporary Masters and Their Work (2001).
Art With Purpose
In 2007 Nancy created Painting a Brighter Future for Women in partnership with The Boma Project. The series of original paintings and prints was inspired by pastoral and Indigenous women in Kenya, Bhutan, and Panama, with proceeds supporting women in those communities. (By Hand, one in the series, shown below, far right).
The images below are cropped from Nancy’s original works. Full versions can be viewed on her website, found here.
Over the Moon
Nancy’s recording will be released later this year in the SPI Learning Lab. In conjunction with the release, SPI will put out a Call for Artists for an Over the Moon student exhibit, to be titled Inspired by the Wild. Over the Moon is SPI’s online student art gallery, a place where students are invited to explore ideas and experiences through art.
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