Gale Antokal was born in New York, New York, and received her MFA from the California College of the Arts and Crafts in 1984. She is an Associate Professor in the San Jose State University School of Art & Design. Antokal held several visiting artist positions and teaching positions including the San Francisco Art Institute, Instructor of Art History at the Lehrhaus Institute, and the American College in Jerusalem. In 1992, Antokal received a Visual Arts Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. Her work is included in public, private and international collections.