Diane Hanson was born in 1976 into a family of farmers in rural southern Minnesota. Her artistic ability was evident from an early age. Ms. Hanson exhibited extensively throughout her childhood at many art competitions around the state. At the age of sixteen she was accepted to the Arts High School (now the Perpich Center for the Arts) in Golden Valley, MN. Having relocated to Minneapolis in order to attend the Arts High School, Ms. Hanson was exposed to a wider range of artistic influences including summer studio classes at the Atelier, Studio Program of Fine Art. It was at this point that Ms. Hanson gained an interest in the old master painters and first aspired to study in Italy.

Following the arts high school Hanson was accepted to the Boston University School for the Arts (now the College of Fine Arts). Ms. Hanson chose BU for its renowned painting faculty and its location on the east coast. While at Boston University Ms. Hanson studied with both Alfred Leslie and John Walker. Shortly after graduating she was awarded a full fellowship to attend the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, VT.

Following her time in New England, Ms. Hanson moved to Dallas, TX in order to accept a graduate teaching assistant position at Southern Methodist University Meadows School of the Arts. While completing her MFA, Hanson was invited to serve as a teaching assistant for the SMU in Italy summer program. During this program, Italian Architecture began to influence Ms. Hanson's work. It was during the SMU summer program that she made the contacts that eventually led her to apply for a Fulbright grant. Upon completing her MFA, Ms. Hanson was awarded the Miguel Vinciguerra Fund Grant and Fulbright Travel Grant to study and work in Italy.

While in Italy, Ms. Hanson had critiques with Mario Teleri-Biason. She also used Teleri-Biason's print shop in order to create the many intaglio prints that she executed during her extensive travels throughout Italy. It is during her time in Italy that Ms. Hanson began working with the idea of using multiple plates placed side by side in order to print disparate images together to form a larger image. This technique eventually worked its way into Ms. Hanson's painting allowing her to use non uniform size canvases together in order to break the traditional rectangle form and create lines that create a frame work around which the images in her paintings develop.

After leaving Rome, Ms. Hanson returned briefly to Minnesota to accept a residency at the Anderson Center for Interdisciplinary Studies in Red Wing Minnesota. She was also awarded a Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Assistance Fellowship Grant.

Both while in Rome and at the Anderson Center, Ms. Hanson was surrounded by artists in other disciplines such as authors and musicians. Ms. Hanson collaborated with creative writer Marisa Escolar to create three works which incorporate Escolar's text and Hanson's images. All three of the works reflected the two artist's experiences while living in Rome.

Shortly after returning to Minnesota, Ms. Hanson moved to Miami, FL where she became a juried artist at the ArtCenter/ South Florida. In 2004, she was awarded the Leo Chestler Contemporary Visual Art Award.

In 2007 Ms. Hanson moved to Baton Rouge,LA. Her work is included in numerous privatecollections throughout the United States, Italy, France, and Portugal. She currently resides and works in Baton Rouge, LA