Knight was a native of Washington, D.C., and received her artistic training in that city, beginning her studies with classes in design and music at the King-Smith School of Creative Arts.

She then spent four years at American University, during which time her instructors included Robert Franklin Gates and William H. Calfee.

In the early 1950s, Knight turned her attention to work in three dimensions, and by 1964 was active exclusively as a sculptor.

In 1972 she served as chief of installation of the American Pavilion at the Venice Biennale; the following year a studio fire destroyed much of her work.

[4] Four of her works, including two impressions of the 1974 lithograph Emily Sleeping, are currently owned by the Smithsonian American Art Museum.