Jongwon Bae was born in Seoul, Korea. He earned his BA in Economics from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, his BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago concentrating on painting and drawing, and his MFA from CUNY-Hunter College concentrating on painting. While attending the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, he received a four-year merit scholarship. At Hunter College, he was one of the Kossak travel grant recipients that enabled him to travel to Spain. He also completed his residency at Vermont Studio Center with an artistic merit grant. He has exhibited his work in New York and Chicago.