Cynthia E. Miller has lived most her life in the desert Southwest since moving there as a child with her family. Initially studying creative writing, then painting at the University of Arizona, she left school to travel throughout Europe, then moved to San Francisco in 1975, earning a BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute where she studied with painters Sam Tchakalian, Ursula Schneider and Robert Colescott. Returning to Tucson, she earned an MFA in Painting from the University of Arizona in 1981, studying with Bailey Doogan, James G. Davis and guest artist sculptor James Turrell.

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Past works, in addition to thirty years of painting, include sculptural installations such as Yaqui Goes to L.A. at the Scottsdale Art Center, collaborations with Anne Bunker and ORTS Theatre of Dance, book arts projects with Chax Press and Kore Press,as well as many commercial art works, including book illustrations for Southwest Kitchen Garden by Kim Nelson, country music album cover art for Columbia/Sony Music, and poster design for Dreaming New Mexico Project.

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Her work is in the collections of the Tucson Museum of Art, the Tucson International Airport, J. Paul Getty Center, Los Angeles, and many private collections.

Recognitions include recipient of the Arizona Arts Award, Painting Fellowship from the Arizona Commission on the Arts and a Golden Addy design award from the Nashville Advertising Federation.

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A teaching artist, Cynthia Miller currently teaches art to children and adults in the Tucson. She recently served as Artist in Residence at the University of Houston-Victoria, in Victoria,Texas, teaching drawing and painting and serving as co-curator of the UHV Downtown Arts Series.