Nancy Garruba studied Comparative Literature at Rutgers University. She continued her studies in Italian literature in Florence while also working as a volunteer to restore books damaged by the flood of 1966. She later trained in rare book conservation at the Library of Congress, and that work led to her study of bookmaking history, book design, and the making of artist’s books. She founded and led a graphic design firm for fifteen years before leaving to concentrate on her own art and writing.

Nancy has received grants from the DC Commission on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, and Art Matters Inc. She’s been a resident at Franklin Furnace and has received numerous awards from the American Institute of Graphic Arts. Her limited edition artist’s books, Skin of Glass and Not Altogether True Not Altogether False, now out of print, are in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the International Center for Photography, the George Eastman House, and the Museum of Modern Art, among others.