From 1991 to the present, Lister has taught media production and critical studies at Rutgers University, where she is currently Graduate Director of Visual Arts.
She is the mother of actress Zoe Lister-Jones and the former wife of the American photographer and media artist Bill Jones.
She also worked on avant-garde television projects such as Pee-wee's Playhouse (CBS) for which she produced the 'Connect the Dots' segments.
Lister founded and edited the journal CRITERIA, a Quarterly Review of the Arts, in 1974 in Vancouver.
CRITERIA published art projects and writings by Lawrence Weiner, John Baldessari, Robin Blaser, and Ardele Lister; and interviews with Judy Chicago, Martha Wilson, and Dennis Wheeler.