Cowan began her formal art training as a teenager, where early explorations in raku firing and a first-place award in the NAACP ACT-SO Maryland competition affirmed her creative path. She earned a BFA in Printmaking with a concentration in Ceramic Sculpture from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2009, and later completed an MA in Arts Education in 2010. Alongside her studio practice, Cowan spent over a decade as a K–12 art educator specializing in special education, and has collaborated with Center Stage Theatre on props and staging as well as with artist Lania D’Agostino on full-body figure castings. She lives and works in Baltimore, Maryland.