Artist Linda Burgess was born in Coral Gables, Florida. She obtained a bachelor of arts degree in art and music from Appalachian State University. She obtained an MFA from Rutgers University. She taught at Birmingham-Southern College and with the University of New Haven in Saudi Arabia.
She has exhibited her work in galleries and museums in the United States, Europe, and Japan. She is married to artist William Dunlap. The entire Dunlap family had a Visiting Artists Residency at the American Academy in Rome in 2009. They spend frequent time each year in the Mississippi Delta