Annie Cunningham grew up with the fields of corn and soybeans of rural Illinois. Finding she ate her surroundings and made her fun, Cunningham honed her creative skills and took to an assortment of artistic endeavors. Gaining a wide span of educational experience, Annie Cunningham attended Lake Land College, University of New Orleans, Florence Academy of the Arts, and earned her BFA in Studio Art, Art History Minor, and Masters of Arts from Eastern Illinois University, and has earned her Masters of Fine Arts from Washington State University. Throughout her enterprises and with heavy influence from her artistic handy-man father, Cunningham delved into the classical study of the arts, as well as the investigation of contemporary environmental art. With the addition of being employed as a botanical gardener, the presence of plant life has influenced her most recent work. How the female form interacts with her surrounding environment is a key component in much of Cunningham's pieces. During Annie Cunningham's national and international exhibitions and artist talks, she strives towards strengthening the awareness and companionship experienced among individuals and their surrounding natural environments.