Dunn graduated from Rutgers University with a BFA in Art History. After moving to New York City in the mid 80's, she spent a large part of her career documenting city streets and the people who strive to leave their mark there: graffiti writers, artists, skaters, boxers, bikers, protesters, and assorted characters. In the late 90's she began to focus on filmmaking, creating classic films about artists of her generation who have influenced the realities of urban life through their own work.
Her films have played at numerous film festivals including, Tribeca, Edinburgh, Rotterdam, Hotdocs, Los Angeles, Havana, and on PBS.
Dunn's work has been exhibited in various galleries and museums including The Tate Modern in London, Deitch Projects in New York, and the “Art in the Streets "exhibition at the Geffen Contemporary MOCA.
She was one of the subjects in the documentary, book, and traveling museum exhibition Beautiful Losers.
She has had three books of her photographs published: Bicycle Gangs of New York, and Some Kinda Vocation, and Festivals are Good.
Pro Abortion by Susan Cienciolo (shot and directed segment). Shown at Rotterdam International Film Festival 2-1997; Edinburgh Film Festival 9-1996.
Sped. Shown at Moving Pictures. Dagkrant - 26th International Film Festival Rotterdam 1997; Raygun screening Los Angeles, CA 2-18-1997; Edinburgh International Film Fest Scotland 8-1999, 8-2001.
Backworlds for Words. Shown at Edinburgh International Film Festival, Scotland 8-1999; Dance on Screen Film Fest, London 11-1999; Cut and Paste Film Festival. Iowa City, IA, 2000.
Peace Consideration Community. Shown at Mirror ball Endinberg International Film Fest & Pre-feature presentations throughout the UK 1999; Warchild Benefit for the Yugoslavian refugee Program, 1999.
Come Mute (10 min.) for the film Beautiful Losers. Shown at Res Screenings. Los Angeles, CA. 2005; Athens International Dance Film Festival 2004; Los Angeles Film Festival 2004.
Creative Life Store, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA; included in package for the book, Some Kind of Vocation (2007)
Everybody Street. Shown at Seaport Museum of New York, NY. September 14, 2010 - October 2010; FORMAT International Photography Festival, Derby, United Kingdom, April 2, 2011; Tate Modern London, July, 2011; HotDocs, Canadian International Documentary Film Festival, 2013; T-Mobile New Horizons Film Festival, Wroclaw, Poland, July 24 - August 3, 2013; Raindance Film Festival, London, September 25 - October 4, 2013; FOAM Unseen Festival, Amsterdam, September 27, 2013; Atlanta Celebrates Photography, Atlanta, October 2, 2013; Independent Photography Festival, Melbourne, November 4, 2013; Raindance International Film Festival, Berlin, November 20, 2013; Nitehawk Cinemas, New York, November, 2013; Cinefamily, Los Angeles, December 2 & 7, 2013; Miami Street Photography Festival, Miami, December 6, 2013; Miami Beach Cinematheque, Miami, December 6 & 11-12, 2013; ARTEFIERA at Cineteca Bologna, Bologna, Italy, January 24, 2014; Los Angeles Center of Photography (LACP), Los Angeles, January 31, 2014; ICA, London, February 7, 2014; Gene Siskel Theater, Chicago, February 8–13, 2014; FilmBar, Phoenix, February 13, 2014; Rialto Theater, Amsterdam, February 19, 2014; Hollywood Theatre Portland, February 19, 2014; The Hepworth Wakefield, Wakefield, UK, February 2014; Bloor Hot Docs Cinema, Toronto, February 2014; Salem Film Festival, Salem, March 6–13, 2014; Kentucky Museum of Art & Culture, Louisville, March 13, 2014; EPOS International Art Film Festival, Tel Aviv, March 19–29, 2014; Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, March 26, 2014.
