Kara M Gunter was born in 1976 in Lexington, SC.  She earned a BFA in sculpture with an emphasis in small metal works and jewelry in 2000 from Winthrop University in Rock Hill, SC, and continued her education at the University of South Carolina in Columbia earning a MFA in 3-dimensional studies and ceramics in 2009.

Kara has taught at Lander University, South Carolina State University, University of South Carolina, Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, AR, and the Arkansas School of Mathematic, Sciences and the Arts in Hot Springs, AR. She also acted as director of the McMaster Gallery in the School of Visual Art and Design at the University of SC, and is the current the Program Manager at Emergent Arts, a community arts center, in Hot Springs, AR.

In 2021, she received an Independent Artist Fellowship in Contemporary Craft from the Arkansas Arts Council.

Kara is actively making and showing her fine art, along with running her own small business, TommyGunGlass, in which she wholesales glass gifts, ornaments, and housewares. She serves on the Arts Advisory Committee for the City of Hot Springs.