Ruth Fields received her BFA and MFA degrees from Tufts University. In addition, she was awarded a diploma and Fifth Year Certificate from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Fields has exhibited paintings and drawings at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Rose Art Museum, the Berkshire Museum and the Danforth Museum. Her work has also been shown in galleries in Boston, New York, Chicago and California.
In 1999, Fields received the 247th Clarissa Bartlett Traveling Scholarship from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts. She has also been awarded fellowships to the MacDowell Colony and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts.