Remodeled and returned to its original use in 2002, First Studio is home to several of the Valley's most creative entrepreneurs and the birthplaces of the iconic Wallace and Ladmo production that has become synonymous with Phoenix.

First Studio Gallery was born from this creative passion.  Over 15 years, the gallery has featured  original art by local artists.  Receptions are on the first Friday of each month. 
For more information email Firststudiogallery@gmail.com

Kristine has been defined as a painter, a sculptor, and a ceramist, but no single word can describe this multifaceted artist. Her art reveals an eclectic blend of styles, techniques and mediums purposefully chosen to best express the art at hand.

"Artistic expression is therapeutic. I hear my own voice most clearly through paint, collage, texture and words hidden deep in the layers.

Using primarily acrylic paints with my fine art, I frequently incorporate found objects such as tickets, fortunes, coins and keys to imply meaning or for simple sculptural value. My paintings explore the relationship between surface and depth, literal and metaphorical.”

Kristine is a Valley Leadership Alumni,  has donated her time and talents for nearly 20 years to work with the youth and serve on the Board of Free Arts for Abused Children of Arizona.  She is a two-time Governors Arts’ Awards nominee and recipient of the 2014 Phoenix Mayors Arts Award for her public art.

Ellen Nemetz is a contemporary artist based in Phoenix, Arizona.   Nemetz studied Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Madison, Wisconsin. As a military wife, Nemetz traveled extensively until settling in Arizona. She studied art at the Maricopa County Community Colleges from which she has twice received the League of Innovation Award.

Everywhere Nemetz has lived, water has influenced her emotions. Her paintings of water reflect not only the beauty of water, but the necessity of water in our desert environment for our health, recreation, and happiness.  So much of our enjoyment of the outdoors in Phoenix involves water: in pools, floating down the Salt River, boating on the reservoir lakes that ring Phoenix. Here in the desert, water is more precious than in any other location. 

Nemetz’s art has been exhibited widely in the southwest in solo and group shows including the Phoenix Sky Harbor Museum and a solo show at the Shemer Art Center and Museum.  Nemetz is actively involved in the Arizona arts community. Nemetz is a former member of the eye lounge artist cooperative, the co-curator of the First Studio Gallery space, and an active member of several arts organizations.  Her works are in public and private collections in Europe, New Zealand and throughout the United States.

Born and raised in Texas, Marnelle had an inner sense of artistic expression from an early age.  Strongly encouraged and influenced by her mother, an accomplished artist and natural teacher, she made art the focus of her life. She studied art at the University of Texas at Austin earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and specializing in life drawing. Marnelle continued her education at the Glassell School of Art at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, TX and the Art League of Houston. Along the way, she has studied under several notable artists including Robert Burridge, David Manje, Rheni Tauchid, Lori Richards, Polly Hammett, Arthur Turner, David Deming and Nina Beall. She is currently a member of the Arizona Artists Guild and has works in many private collections around the country.

Marnelle has maintained a love of figure drawing over the years and keeps the figure a prominent subject in much of her work. She finds drawing and painting the figure to be one of the most challenging subjects for artists that nature provides. Her diligence to anatomical correctness gives her abstract figures a fluidity and motion unique to her style.

Having lived many years in both Texas and Arizona, Marnelle travels frequently between the two. She has been influenced by both the rolling hills of the Texas Hill Country and the rugged, arid landscape of the low desert of Arizona. She finds inspiration wherever she travels.

Marnelle and her husband, Eddie, live and work in Phoenix, AZ. They have two grown children. She and Eddie enjoy traveling, biking, gardening and hiking with their dogs on South Mountain.

Growing up as the daughter of a first-generation Irish American, I was immersed in a world that seamlessly intertwined the visible and the invisible, where the concept of soul was as tangible as that of the body. My work has been a journey where the ethereal becomes palpable, and the connections between souls are unveiled.

My artistic journey has been a continuous exploration of themes such as self-love, voice, grief, and love. Along this path, I delve into the profound realms of Solitude and Silence: The Place where the Soul Speaks. Through art I navigate the internal landscape, capturing the essence of oneself and the mysterious dimensions within.

Tess Mosko Scherer resides in Phoenix, Arizona with dual citizenship in the US and Ireland, her over 40-year career spans the for-profit and non-profit sectors. As a gallerist, artist, advocate, author, and coach, she has dedicated herself to unraveling the transformative power of art. Currently serving as the Director of the Arizona Art Alliance, she has received numerous grants for projects supporting US Veterans, and individuals touched by trauma and suicide.   Additionally, she is a member of the curatorial team at First Studio, Phoenix, Arizona.

Her artwork has won numerous awards, is represented by Van Gogh’s Ear Gallery, Prescott, Arizona, has been exhibited across the United States, and is collected internationally.