She studied at Colegio María Auxiliadora and the Instituto de señoritas Salomé Ureña, and the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo, where she graduated with a degree in Philosophy. She studied art at the National School of Fine Arts, graduating in 1962. In 1970, she moved overseas to Madrid, Spain, where she completed a post-graduate at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid.
Núñez taught painting and drawing at the National School of Fine Arts, Colegio Dominicano de la Salle, la Universidad Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. In 2012, The Ministry of Culture and the Museum of Modern Art in Santo Domingo, honored Elsa Núñez with the painting exhibition titled “Elsa Nuñez 1962 Retrospective 2012”, which was formed by 130 paintings spanning the her career. María Elena Ditrén, Director Museum of Modern Art, described Elsa Nuñez"s work as a reflection of the turbulent "60s, which were characterized by fear, anxiety and terror of the Trujillo dictatorship and the Revolution of April 1965.
