Maria Domínguez was born in Puerto Rico and migrated with family at the age four to New York City where she received her formal education and eventually acquired her Bachelors in Fine Arts degree from the School of Visual Arts. Her visual arts career began in 1985 as a public artist while serving as an intern for the Citiarts mural making workshop. Her trajectory in public art making commissions include; "El-Views" (2002) for The Metropolitan Transportation Authority at the Chauncey Street station in Brooklyn, NYC, Brooklyn, NYC "El Barrio, USA" NYC (1999) for the St. Luke/ Roosevelt Hospital, "El Pueblo Cantor" Bronx, NYC (1994) for El Banco Popular and in 1995 she was officially invited by the city of Milan, Italy to create a mural installation for the government building at the Triennale de Milano.

Her personal works have been included in a number of solo and group shows in the United States, Japan and Italy. Awards merited for her artistic efforts include: The National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council for the Arts and New York Foundation for the Arts.

Domínguez' background as artist, artist educator and arts administrator has gained the respect of her peers and has been invited to serve as a panelist for; The Leeway Foundation in Philadelphia, Brio awards; Bronx, NYC, The New York Foundation for the Arts, Percent for Arts in New York City.

Her arts in education background in schools and museums consist of; The Guggenheim Museum's "Learning through the Arts" program, "Studio in the Schools" and she headed the Education Department for the Latino museum El Museo del Barrio for seven years. She is currently working for Young Audiences of New York as an artist in residence.