Nancy Crites was born in Toronto, Ontario and was raised on the prairies of western Canada.

Her studies began in 1970 at the University of Alberta where she focussed on textile arts, particularly weaving and she spent many summers at the University of Saskatchewan’s Kenderdine Campus at Emma Lake, Saskatchewan and the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity where she worked with numerous renowned artists.

Crites has artwork in public and private collections and over the past 30 years has exhibited in various venues in Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia. She has received numerous art grants as well as juried awards. Currently, Crites’ work is focussed on contemporary rug hooking, honouring traditional techniques as she creates mats based on memories and myths of prairie life.

Her current full-time studio practice is influenced by the seemingly endless expanses of land in the prairies and the contrast the ever-changing seasons bring to the prairies.