Croteau was born in Chicag in 1950. She attended the Art Institute of Chicago from 1987 to 1988 and received her BFA in sculpture from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1990. She later went on to receive her MFA from Rutgers University Mason Gross School of the Arts in 1998. Much of Croteaus work is based in exposure of the taboo and reversal of social hierarchies. Croteau has also been a member, supporter, and leader of several womens art collectives and activist groups that challenge injustice through artistic expression, including Artemisia Art Gallery. As of 2011, she is engaged in Art on Armitage and she is a member of SisterSerpents.
From the description of Mary Ellen Croteau Papers 1963-2011. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 755632744
