From watching her father excel as a commercial artist, Nancy Lee Zorick was able to discover her passion and love for art from a young age. She went on to study at the Art Institute of Chicago and participated in workshops through The Second City during the late 1960s before studying at the American Academy of Art in 1971. Opening the doors to her professional endeavors, Ms. Zorick worked as a commercial artist for the Embosograph Display Mfg. Co. from 1964 to 1966 and for the Stevens Biondi DiCicco firm from 1966 to 1968, both located in Chicago. Today, Ms. Zorick immerses herself in various activities, such as teaching Sunday school and reading to children through the BookPALS program. She has also served as president, parliamentarian and historian of Des Arts between 1983 and 2008.

In the years since, Ms. Zorick has made her art available to the public through numerous shows, such as the Riverside County Art Exhibition in 1990, an exhibition of the Fontana Art Association in 1988 and, most recently, she presented her work at a one-woman art show at the Coachella Valley Museum in 2008. Additionally, she was an illustrator for “The Little Acorn,” and for “Making Weight,” a book recounting the experiences of a 65-year-old blind athlete, which was published in 2012. Ms. Zorick also touts a notable career as an actress, as she has acted in several plays, including “My Sweet Charlie” and “Harold,” as well as the movies “Medium Cool,” “Jackson County Jail,” and “Outside Chance.” In 1969, she appeared in a commercial for Tastee-Freez, an American chain of fast-food establishments.

Reflecting on her various achievements, Ms. Zorick was featured in an interview with the “Donna Drake Show: Live It Up” in 2020. To attest to her success, she was named to the Taft Alumni Hall of Fame in 2000 and she received Best of Show in Fine Arts from the Fontana Art Association and Des Arts in 1988. She has also won several first-place awards and second place at the Riverside County Fair and National Date Festival and at Des Arts. Ms. Zorick attributes her success to George Soto, one of her teachers who served as a mentor and guided her in her artwork. She also credits being a happy, friendly person.