A New Yorker by birth, she moved to Ireland in 1973 after completing an MFA in Painting and a PhD from the Pennsylvania State University. She was the first Education Officer in the National Gallery of Ireland (1974-77) and from 1977 to 2005 lectured in History of Art & Design at NCAD. She has been Art Advisor to AIB since 1980 where she has played a key role in building their outstanding collection of Irish Art.

She has written and lectured widely on contemporary Irish art, has curated major exhibitions and has presented several television programmes. She was on the boards of the Douglas Hyde Gallery, Business-2-Arts and the Crawford Gallery and was Chairman of the Crafts Council from 1999-2003. In addition to her art consultancy practice, she continues to lecture and write, most recently contributing to the upcoming book on the artist Brian Bourke.