Robert Milnes holds a MFA in Ceramics from the University of Washington, and a BA in Philosophy and Fine Arts from Claremont McKenna College (1970) along with a PhD in Higher Education Administration from the University of Pittsburgh. His artworks have been included in over 180 exhibitions nationally including 28 one/two person shows. His artworks are included in the collections of the Renwick Gallery (Smithsonian Institution), Seattle Arts Commission, Arizona State University Ceramic Research Center, San Jose Museum of Art, Louisiana State University Museum, Erie Art Museum, Edinboro University of PA, San Jose State University, and private collections nationally.

 A ceramics professor in several universities, Milnes served as a department, school and college administrator for art and design programs for 35 years and is Emeritus Dean of the College of Visuals Arts and Design at the University of North Texas, where he served from January 2006 to his retirement in August 2014, when he moved to Asheville, NC with his wife Karen, re-establishing Arbitrary Forms Studio.

Milnes is a past president of the National Council of Art Administrators and the National Association of Schools of Art and Design. He is a Fellow and Lifetime Member of NASAD. He has served as a consultant or evaluator for seventy universities, colleges, and independent schools of art in the US and abroad and on the boards of regional arts councils and other organizations.