Up for Air

Nanci Hersh is a contemporary mixed-media artist whose work transforms personal stories into art to reveal our deeper connections.Her two-dimensional work, as well as her sculptures and installations are symbolic explorations of the grace, beauty, and fragility of our lives.

Nanci is also an educator, arts advocate and former Executive Director of the Delaware Institute for the Arts in Education. Her work has been exhibited throughout the United States including "Riverfront 20/20" and Farthest from the Ordinary" at The Delaware Contemporary, “50 States/200 Artists” at the Museum of Encaustic Art in Santa Fe, NM, “Eons Beyond the Rib” at Seraphin Gallery in Philadelphia, PA, “Paper Work” at the Trenton City Museum at Ellarslie and “The Demoiselles Revisited” at Francis M. Naumann Fine Art, NYC, along with solo exhibitions in PA, NJ, DE, and HI. Nanci has received numerous honors including three purchase awards from the State Foundation of Culture and the Arts, Hawai’i, and three Leeway Foundation Art & Change Grants. Her work is included in the Public Collections of Museum of Encaustic Art, Johnson & Johnson, Leland Portland Cement, and OSI Pharmaceuticals to name a few.

With her cousin and author, Ellen McVicker, Nanci illustrated and co-created the children’s book Butterfly Kisses and Wishes on Wings: When someone you love has cancer… a hopeful, helpful book for kids. Now in its 8th printing, the book is a resource and comfort to children and their families around the world.