Born and raised in Laredo, TX, Mari’s heart and spiritual home are rooted on the banks of the Río Grande, in the Tamaulipan scrub of South Texas and northeastern Mexico. She pays tribute to her Tejano heritage by documenting the celebrations, rituals, and quotidian details of life in the Tejano heartland, blending in the often overlooked Tejano history in the process. She was a Texas Folklife Fellow in 2023 and a recipient of the CMAS Voces Oral History Collaborative Fellowship in 2025. Her works have appeared in Barrelhouse, Chamisa: A Journal of Visual, Literary and Performance Arts of the Southwest, and the anthology, ¡Somos Tejanas! After graduating from UC College of Law, she followed her spouse to postings in the Netherlands, Singapore, and India. Mari resides in Houston, TX and is currently working on a book.