Dragica Čadež was born on April 29, 1940 in Ljubljana. In 1963 she graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana with a degree in sculpture. Two years later she completed her postgraduate studies under Prof. Boris Kalin. She became a member of the Association of Slovenian Fine Artists in 1964, was granted the status of a free-lance artist in 1967, and was awarded the academic title of Associate Professor of Sculpture in 1982. Between 1991 and 1996 she taught at the Fine Arts Department of the Faculty of Education in Maribor. In 1998 she was appointed full Professor of Sculpture at the Faculty of Education of the University of Ljubljana; she continued teaching there until her retirement in 2004. In 2003 she won the Žagar Prize for lifetime achievement in the sphere of education. Since 1963 she has participated in numerous exhibitions, art seminars, and sculpture symposia at home and abroad. She has had over 60 solo shows, receiving numerous awards and prizes, including the Prešeren Foundation Award for her Associations of Pompeii series. In 2006 she founded the Ceramics Section of the ZDSLU and was one of the initiators of the Triennial of Ceramic Art – Ceramics UNICUM 09. 2010 saw the publication of her monograph The Story of a Tree. She lives in Ljubljana.