Lee Gainer was the only girl born at Stuart Circle Hospital on the day the Agnes Flood hit Richmond, Virginia in 1972. She grew up in the blue collar suburbs, winning numerous art awards including three National Cappy Dick contests. Lee attended Virginia Commonwealth University on scholarship and earned a BFA with honors in Communication Arts with an emphasis in Photography. After working in the state's forensics photography lab, Lee moved to Orlando (because her car wouldn't make it to San Francisco) and worked for the Walt Disney Company as a photographer. In 2001, she relocated to the Washington D.C area. After designing websites and managing the studio of an internationally acclaimed painter, she decided to concentrate on her own art career full-time beginning in 2007.

Lee is presently a resident artist at the Arlington Arts Center in Arlington, Virginia. Her work has been exhibited nationally, including exhibits at Civilian Art Projects (DC), Pierro Gallery (NJ), Red Cake Gallery (CA), the Arlington Arts Center (VA), Slideluck Potshow (DC and IL), and a solo exhibit at GRACE in Reston, Virginia. Lee's work has been featured in publications such as The New York Times, The American Prospect, Invisible City, The Exposure Project Book, and her own book, Two Month's Salary. Her works are part of the collections of the Rosslyn Renaissance Business Improvement District, the Indie Photobook Library, and The Newark Public Library, Special Collections Division. Online, her work has been presented at DailyServing, Humble Arts Foundation, Murmur DC, The Truth of Beauty, Today and Tomorrow, i like this art, Beautiful Decay, and DesignBoom. She is a recipient of the Creative Communities Fund Grant for her work with the 2011 Source Festival. Lee also curates a blog, Peek (www.leegainer.blogspot.com), which has presented a new contemporary artist each weekday since February 2008.