[2] Her siblings were the economist, lawyer and diplomat Artur Lilien-Brzozdowiecki and the singer Klara Janina Bloomfield (1893–1965).
[6] After retiring from the School of the Art Institute in 1967,[1][2] she gave classes in history of architecture at Columbia College Chicago.
[3] In 1943, together with Maria Werten, she organized an exhibition of Polish woodcuts at the Art Institute of Chicago.
[7] She was also the initiator of the Treasures from Poland exhibition presented in 1966 at the Art Institute to commemorate the millennium of the Polish State.
[3] Her Chicago home became an artistic salon[2][3] where she welcomed Polish artists and immigrants, such as Arthur Rubinstein, Witold Lutosławski, Witold Rowicki, Wanda Wiłkomirska, Krzysztof Penderecki, Mira Zimińska and Walentyna Janta-Połczyńska.
[5] A portrait of Marya Lilien painted by Polish artist Antoni Michalak, called Lady in Blue Gloves,[2] was exhibited in the late 1930s at the Venice Biennale, then in Pittsburgh[3] and finally at the 1939 New York World's Fair.