Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Maria Dolores has been living in Guatemala since she was 2 years old. She studied restoration at the Escuela de Artes Aplicadas a la Restauracion in Madrid, Spain. She also studied painting with Manolo Gallardo, Roberto Cabrera, Roberto González Goyri and Elmar Rojas. She also works in sculpture a ceramics. Some of her solo shows in Guatemala have been, 2000: "The Object of Desire" Galeria del Sol, Arte Contemporaneo; 1999:"Through Time" Galería Contexto; 1998: "Intimate Anatomy" Galeria del Sol, Arte Contemporaneo. In the 1990's Maria Dolores had numerous exhibitions in commercial galleries such as Galeria El Tunel and Galeria Plastica Contemporanea.

Ms. Castellanos has had numerous group shows both in Guatemala and abroad. Some of the most recent are : 1999 : "Interior Conversation" Americas Gallery, Organization of American States Main Building, Washington, DC; "Mua Instala 99, Women for Arts" Tegucigalpa, Honduras; 1997: "Guatemalan Contemporary Art" Departamento de Cultura Bayer AG, Leverkusen and Dormagen, Germany. Many of her works can be found in public and corporate collections.