[3][4] Maris earned her BA from Smith College and an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
[5][6] She participated in the Whitney Independent Study Program at the Whitney Museum of American Art and won a Fulbright Scholarship to Mexico City.
[7] In 2015, she directed her debut feature film, Five Nights in Maine, starring David Oyelowo, Teyonah Parris, Rosie Perez and Dianne Wiest, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and was released theatrically.
[8] In 2016, she directed the documentary short, The Man Is the Music, about the artist and musician Lonnie Holley.
[9] In 2018, her short documentary film, While I Yet Live, about five quilters and freedom fighters from Gee's Bend, Alabama premiered at the Berlinale.