Tracy Baker-White grew up in the southern states of Tennessee, Virginia, and Arkansas. She graduated from Williams College, where she received the Royal Society of Arts Award in 1980. She also studied at the Sarah Lawrence College studio art program in Lacoste, France. After completing a Master's Degree at the University of Washington, Baker-White spent 20 years working as a Museum educator in California, Texas, and Washington D.C. During that time she served as the Southwestern Bell Curator of Education at the San Antonio Museum of Art, the Director of Public Programs at the Southwest School of Art and Craft, and the Director of Continuing Education at the Corcoran College of Art and Design.
She as been a recipient of a Martha Boschen Porter grant in 2016, the MassMoca Assets for Artist Grant in 2019, and the Artists Resource Trust Award in 2021.