Maria Calderon was born in Shawnee, Kansas. She was raised in a home filled with South American folklore from her Peruvian Father, an Andean folk musician. She studied Painting and Art History in Cortona, Italy in 2004 and in 2006 she graduated from North Park University with a Bachelors in Fine Art with a concentration in Painting. Since her studies at North Park, she has been awarded a studio residency through The Charlotte Street Foundation in Kansas City. She currently teaches Drawing at The University of Missouri Kansas City and was currently awarded a spot in the spring session of Artist INC. through the Arts Council of Metropolitan Kansas City in association with Creative Capital. Maria has been utilizing various drawing and painting mediums throughout her work. She creates time based narratives relating the past to the present. She also studies various cultural textiles and focuses on what she calls a contemporary primitivism.