Dee Briggs was born in Western Pennsylvania and raised in the northern panhandle of West Virginia. At the age of 18, Briggs moved to New York City. She studied architecture at the City College of New York and earned a Master of Architecture degree from Yale University in 2002. She has taught in the schools of art and architecture at Carnegie Mellon University and exhibits nationally. Currently, her home and studio are located in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania.