Mary Ann Papanek-Miller is Professor and Chair of the Department of Art, Media, and Design at DePaul University in Chicago. She was born in Hinsdale, Illinois, and currently lives and works between Chicago and the woods/lake country of rural northern Minnesota. She received a Master of Fine Arts degree in Art from the University of Houston, Texas with a dual emphasis in drawing and in metals.

Her artwork bombards the viewer with a layered collection of visual images meant to be read as a narrative, and often addresses her deep concern for the environment. Images often remain as an after image, layered over the next image and the next image and the next; provoking chance, seasoned with reflections from stories, songs and rhymes of childhood. Toys feature prominently in her work.