Maria Apelo Cruz is a Canadian born Filipina artist, her formative years of training included weekly lessons with SYM leading to her acceptance and formal training on full scholarship at the New York Academy of Art in New York City - Maria is one of the first graduates of Andy Warhol's pilot program established to revive the French academic art curriculum during the mid 1980's.

Maria currently creates artwork for the interior design and movie industry, her studio is located in Los Angeles, CA. The current focus of her art is a combination of paint and reflective surfaces (verreeglomise) - reverse painted glass. Recent commissions include art glass for the main entrance of the newly restored Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City, the Plaza Hotel in New York City and the presidential palaces in Kazan, Russia.