Pierce was a painter, printmaker and sculptor. He founded the University of Alaska’s art department in 1960 and retired as professor emeritus of art from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. In 2012, he received an honorary doctorate of arts from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks in recognition of his accomplishments as an artist and educator and for his contributions to the practice of art in Alaska.

Pierce was raised on a cattle ranch in the Mojave desert and took to drawing animals at an early age. His formal training began in Los Angeles at the Art Center School, now the Art Center College of Design, and Chouinard Art Institute, which later merged with California Institute of Arts. WW II interrupted his education when he was drafted into the army in 1942. He saw combat along the Siegfried Line, for which he received a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star; was at Normandy; and served in Germany following American occupation. In 1947, he resumed his studies in New York under the auspices of the GI Bill. He studied with William Gropper and Raphael Soyer at the American Artists School and attended the also no-longer-extant Brooklyn Museum School, where he worked closely with Gabor Peterdi, Max Beckmann and Ben Shahn.

In the late 40s, Pierce did freelance illustration for the popular and widely distributed pulp magazine Adventure immediately following the retirement of famed wildlife illustrator Lynn Bogue Hunt. He taught advanced printmaking at Hunter College, where he also took over the beginning drawing class from Clyfford Still in 1951.

In 1953, he moved to Kent, WA and began teaching at various Seattle institutions. In 1959, he became a Carnegie fellow at the University of Alaska. His year as Carnegie artist-in-residence involved traveling around the state, teaching classes and workshops along the way. The following year he founded the University of Alaska’s art department and created the first academic art curriculum in the State.

In 1962, while teaching at the University of Alaska, he also earned a degree in journalism from the institution. In 1965, he was hired to teach printmaking at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. He retired from the University of Wisconsin as professor emeritus in 1984.