Marianna Jimenez Edwards’ interest in creative practices began early. Frequent trips to stay with family in Mexico exposed her to the roots of her Mexican culture. She studied at the San Francisco Art Institute, receiving a BFA in Painting.

Further awareness of her indigenous heritage and Chicano culture blossomed during art school. Also, during that time, visiting her grandmother’s village in Oaxaca and various archaeological sites in Central Mexico and Chiapas on separate occasions transformed that awareness into the passion and central idea for her work.

After art school, Marianna taught drawing and painting at two separate private studios. One of those studios belonged to classically trained, Venezuelan artist Conchita Firgau, which led Marianna to want to explore a blend of Western realism and Pre-Columbian themes and subject matter.
Marianna is both a visual artist/educator working in oil and mixed media painting, incorporating cultural objects, collage, portraits into her work.

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In 2021 Marianna received an Alexa Rose grant to purchase a new DSLR camera, lens, memory card, flash unit, and remote for photo references and documenting her artwork and studio practice.