Christopher T. Terry was born in Stamford, Connecticut in 1956. He attended Rhode Island College in Providence, RI where he earned a BA in Studio Art in 1978. He continued his education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he earned his Master of Fine Arts degree in 1981. After moving back to Connecticut, he began exhibiting his paintings in and around the New York area in 1982. Accepting a teaching position at California State University, Long Beach in 1984 brought him to the west coast where he exhibited his work at galleries in both Los Angeles and San Francisco. In 1988 he accepted a position at Utah State University and began teaching painting and drawing there.

Professor Terry is the recipient of numerous awards as a painter including the Utah Visual Artist Fellowship, and a WESTAF/NEA Fellowship in Painting. He has twice been the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship for Teaching and Research in Germany and in 2000 was a Visiting Artist at the American Academy in Rome. He continues to exhibit his paintings at galleries in the United States and Germany.