Leona Pierce (1921-2002), painter, printmaker, textile artist, and teacher, was born in Santa Barbara, California on January 28, 1921. An early interest in art led her to become a portraitist as a young woman, a practice she would continue later in life. In 1946 she moved to New York to study at the Art Students’ League and later enrolled at the New School where she came under the influence of Yasuo Kuniyoshi and Stuart Davis.

Among the artists she met at the Art Students League was Antonio Frasconi, who she would later marry. By this time Pierce was already established as an artist and had an exhibition history with her woodcuts and hand-printed textiles. The couple traveled occasionally to Pierce's hometown, where she was given an exhibition of new paintings at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art in 1947. The couple settled in Greenwich Village, New York in 1949 where they shared a studio for many years and collaborated on several projects.

In 1957, now with two young sons, Leona and Antonio settled in Norwalk, Connecticut where Pierce did much of the child rearing. Her artistic output at this time slowed considerably, though she continued to paint. In 1960, her work was included in the International Council at the Museum of Modern Art's United States exhibition at the II Bienal Interamericana de Mexico, Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City. 

Pierce is probably best known for her color woodcuts of children at play. Her work is represented in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Brooklyn Museum, New York Public Library, Library of Congress, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Leona Pierce died on February 12, 2002.