Marianita Faraino Stevans grew up in Baltimore, Maryland and holds a MFA in painting. She brings to her work a varied background that includes living in Italy where she sculpted in metals to a decade as a designer and business owner in the textile design industry. She is mindful of the chemistry of the painter’s materials yet, from that place of tradition, executes work that delves into contemporary issues. 

 Marianita taught for many years at the Maryland Institute College of Art and relocated to North Carolina in 2006. Her work is represented at FRANK Gallery in Chapel Hill. Her paintings are in several corporate and private collections.