She holds a bachelor of fine arts in fibers from Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colo. (1986), and a master of fine arts in sculpture from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1993). She has an extensive regional and national exhibition record participating in both solo and group exhibitions. In 2000 and 2011 she was the recipient of a Fellowship in Crafts from the Illinois Arts Council, the most recent of which supported her work on this exhibition.