Marja Lianko, originally from Finland, received degrees from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts and Tufts University. She has taught at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts and Simmons College. Lianko has exhibited her work at the Pepper Gallery, Boston; the Huron Gallery, Cambridge, MA; Gallery 57, Cambridge; Acacia Gallery, Gloucester, MA; Boston Center for the Arts; DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, MA; Rose Art Museum, Waltham, MA; Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge; and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Lianko has been awarded the Russell T. Smith Award from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, the New England Regional Fellowship from the New England Foundation for the Arts, two finalist awards from The Artist Foundation, and First Prize at the Boston 200 Quilt Competition. Her work is in several public and corporate collections including the Museum of Fine Arts, DeCordova Museum, Fogg Art Museum, Pepsico, Barclays Bank International, and Fidelity Investments.