Gioia Fonda was born in Alameda, CA is 1973.  At the age of 11 she and her family moved to the small central valley town of Oakdale.  Later she attended California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland and acquired a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with a focus in interdisciplinary work.  In 1996 she moved to New York to pursue a Masters Degree, attending School of Visual Arts and graduating with an MFA in 1999.  She currently resides in Sacramento, California and is an Assistant Professor of 2-D studies at Sacramento City College.