Marilyn Jolly was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She Earned her MFA in Painting at the University of Oklahoma and her BFA at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma. She recently retired as an Associate Professor of Painting at the University of Texas at Arlington, where she served as the coordinator of the painting program for over two decades.

Jolly has been exhibited regionally, nationally, and internationally in various galleries, museums, and institutional art spaces including the Santa Reparata International School of Art (Florence, Italy), Fred Jones Fine Art Center (Norman, OK), Circuit 12 Contemporary (Dallas, TX), Galveston Art Center (Galveston, TX), Women and Their Work (Austin, TX), McKinney Avenue Contemporary (Dallas, TX), and the Arlington Museum of Art (Arlington, TX). Her work is included in collections such as the Mexic-Arte Museum (Austin, TX), Capitol One, The Belo Corporation, and the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts. The artist lives and works in Dallas, Texas.