Rafael J. Cañizares was born in Colombia, South America and has been a resident of Allentown since 1984.

In 1997 he received a Master of Fine Arts from Cranbrook Academy of Art where he was awarded a merit Scholarship. In 1994-95, he attended the Corcoran School of Art where he received The Lolo Sarnoff Award for Sculpture and the Rookie of the Year Award in Ceramics. In 1991 he received a Bachelor of Arts, Art Studio from Bloomsburg University.

He has exhibited at the State Museum of Pennsylvania and the State Capitol in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and at the art and Development Gallery in Detroit, Michigan.