Dates

• Existence: 1924 - 2003

Biography

Nancy Pfeiffer Towner, artist and writer, was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on September 17, 1924, to Kathryn Fry Pfeiffer and Josef Pfeiffer. Pfeiffer studied art at the University of Iowa under Philip Guston from 1943 to 1944 and then attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago from 1944 to 1947. In 1947, Pfeiffer married Robert Vincent Towner; they had four sons together. Through scholarship funding, Towner studied under Paul Wieghardt at the Evanston Art Center in Evanston, Illinois from 1963 to 1965. She later earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1975.

Towner participated in Chicago area art exhibitions throughout the 1960s and 1970s. She served on the board of directors for the West Hubbard Gallery in Chicago from 1979 to 1980 and was shown in the Spaces Lit from Within exhibit at the West Hubbard Gallery. In 1982, Towner and her husband moved to Iowa City after raising their family. She continued to exhibit her works in Iowa City and larger galleries in Chicago and New York City. She also published writing and poetry throughout the 1980s through the 2000s.

Her drawings and poetry have been published in both local and national journals. Some of these journals include Iowa Woman, Diacritics, Lyrical Iowa, Midwest Poetry, 100 Words, Rhino, Standing Alone, and The Literary Review. Her poetry has received many prizes, including the Illinois Arts Council's Prize for Poetry in 1981. Towner was active in the National League of American Pen Women, Iowa City Branch, and received numerous awards at the organization's national competitions in sculpture, drawing, and painting. She presented lectures on her art at Arts Iowa City and participated in the Iowa Women Writers program.

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