Marie Bukowski began her art studies at Carnegie Mellon University where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts with a double major in Painting and 19th Century German Literature and a double minor in Printmaking and Linguistics & Rhetoric in 1992. She received her Certificate in Art History and Polish language from the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland in 1999. Bukowski went on to receive her Master of Fine Arts with Honors with a double degree in Painting and Printmaking in 2000 from the University of Pennsylvania. Upon receiving her MFA, Bukowski took a position in the School of Art at Louisiana Tech University where she was Professor of Art, Graduate Program Coordinator, and BFA Studio Program Coordinator for 13 years. She served as the Director of the School of Art and Design at Southern Illinois University Carbondale for 4 years and is currently the Director of the School of Art at Kent State University.

Bukowski is an internationally recognized printmaker, included in public collections and museums in countries such as Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, The Czech Republic, Mexico, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, and Spain. Throughout her career, she has had eighteen solo exhibitions, forty-nine invitational exhibitions, and sixty-three juried exhibitions; thirty-five of which are on the international level. Bukowski has received eight artist-in-residence positions with prestigious institutions such as Tamarind Institute in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Anchor Graphics in Chicago, Illinois, the Frans Masereel Centrum in Kasterlee, Belgium and Milkwood International in Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic. She has received over a dozen grants to support her work since 2002 including a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Bukowski is represented by Cole Pratt Gallery in New Orleans, Louisiana and Stowarzyszenie Miedzynarodowe Triennale Grafiki in Krakow, Poland.