Priest was the recipient of many awards for her artistic talent and philanthropic contributions to many social organizations that focused on issues of homelessness, education, and civil rights.
During this time, she also took enrichment courses at Quinsigamond Community College before she earned a Masters in Fine Arts from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 1977.
[2] Priest was deeply committed to Abby's House, a shelter for battered women and children in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Terri Priest's work was greatly inspired by the mystery associated with the women in the paintings of Johannes Vermeer, one of the greatest painters of the Dutch Golden Age.
The women in Vermeer's paintings typically stood quietly and did not perform complicated or complex tasks.