Mary Ann Pope was born and grew up in Lousiville, Kentucky. She attended the Art Center, University of Louisville, and Cooper Union in New York, New York.

Since her move to Alabama with her family she has concentrated on painting the landscape of the South in oil, acrylic, and watercolor. Ruth Appelhof, Curator, has written of her work: "..she transforms the southern landscape into a heightened, more vibvrant interpretation of reality. Crammed with vibrant color, Pope's work is a form of intensified realism, a song of joy....she paints not what she sees with her eyes, but what she senses in her soul." Voices Rising, Alabama Women at the Millennium, exhibition catalog (Washington , D.C.; National Museum of Women in the Arts, 2000),6.