Born in Czechoslovakia, Yolanda Fusco came to the United States in 1930. With a full scholarship, Fusco attended the Art Students League in New York where she studied with Vaclav Vytlacil, Ernest Fiene and Harry Sternberg. She also studied at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. Fusco had solo exhibitions in Long Island, New York City and Daytona Beach, and participated in numerous group shows. She received a Top Award from the Village Art Center Gallery in New York for "The Land and the Sea," a watercolor and one of her first paintings of Monhegan Island. Fusco was a member of the National Association of Women Artists and was one of the founding members of the Women Artists of Monhegan Island group.

In an explanation of her theory of art, Fusco said she liked to simplify things. "Like poetry, a painting should be the essence of thought and vision. That's how I feel about it."