Janet Taylor Pickett was born in 1948 in Ann Arbor, Michigan where she earned both her bachelor's and master's degrees in fine art.

She also studied art at the Vermont Studio Center, Parsons School of Design, and the Fashion Institute of Technology.

[1] Taylor Pickett works in various mediums including sculpture, installation, painting, assemblage, and collage.

Her work is inspired by her life as an African American woman and informed by her 30 years teaching at Essex County College in New Jersey.

In her own words, "My Blackness is a declarative statement in my work.”[2] Taylor Pickett was one of the artists whose work was exhibited in the 1986 group show Progressions: Cultural Legacy at MoMA PS1.