Dr hab. Maria Sękowska, professor at UMCS in Lublin. In the years 1978–82 she studied at the Faculty of Pedagogy and Psychology at the Institute of Artistic Education of Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin. She received a diploma in painting in 1982. In 1983 she continued her studies at the Faculty of Painting of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. From 1990 employed at the Faculty of Arts at the Institute of Fine Arts of the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin. In 1997 she received 1st degree qualifications at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. In 2011, she received the 2nd degree qualifications - at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Silesia in Katowice - the Branch in Cieszyn. In 2013-2015 she was the head of the He Shuifa UMCS Center of Chinese Culture and Art at the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin.
She created graphics, paintings and drawings. She took part in over 60 collective exhibitions and over 60 individual exhibitions – in Poland and abroad, among others in Spain, Germany, Austria, Italy, Lithuania, Belgium, Ukraine and China. She was a member of the Lviv Society of Friends of Fine Arts in Lviv and the Association of Polish Artists O/Lublin, as well as the Association Joint Roots working for Poles in the East.
She was awarded in the Graphic of the Year 1991 competition in Lublin. She received recogrnition from the German-Polish Society in Mecklenburg Vorpommern and from the Marshal of the Lubelskie Voivodeship for the participation and presentation of the Lubelskie Voivodeship in the Polish Week of Close-up - Annäherung 2001. She was honored at the International Drawing Competition in Nałęczów and was awarded the 1st prize in the Illustration Competition Jeremy Przybora in 2012 in Kutno. In 2015, she won a special prize at the International Drawing Competition Andriolego in Nałęczów. In recognition of her contribution to the City of Lublin and its Residents, she was awarded the Medal of the President of the City of Lublin with thanks for outstanding cultural and scientific activities as well as promotion of Lublin on the national and international arena. In 2017, for activities for the Innovation Center of Yangtze River Delta Region Green Pharmaceuticals University of Technology in Hangzhou and coordination of cooperation with UMCS in Lublin, she was honored with the title of Distinguished Professor Collaborative.