Melissa Martinez moved to Arizona from Chicago to attend Arizona State University, where she graduated in 1999 with a B.F.A. in Sculpture. Her passion for art is driven by a continuing rediscovery of the intrinsic beauty of nature - that the most beautiful things are those that occur naturally in this world. These natural things have become the focus of her work.  Her art is ethnographic - a translation of the places, feelings and experiences that are her life. 

While Melissa was attending Arizona State University she was awarded a sculpture studio in recognition of her sculpting abilities and her hard work.  Melissa made the Dean's list as well for her academic achievements at ASU.  After graduating in 1999 Melissa was hired at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art as the Museum's preparator, installing all of the artworks displayed at the museum.  Currently, Melissa is Exhibit Designer at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona, an internationally acclaimed center for Native culture and art.

Melissa has flourished in the local Phoenix art scene, having found her place within the local arts community.  Melissa is currently a member of 515: a contemporary art space, an artist collective located on Roosevelt Row, in the heart of the downtown Phoenix arts district.  Melissa currently resides in Tempe where she continues to be inspired by the natural beauty of the desert.

B.F.A. in Sculpture at Arizona State University graduated May 1999 

•   Melissa Martinez, Studio Architecture, Phoenix, Arizona June 2005

•   Badland, Gallery 515, Phoenix, Arizona July 2004

•   The Quiet Earth, Gallery 515, Phoenix, Arizona April 2003

•   Desert Rumination, Rezurrection Gallery, Tempe, Arizona February 2002

•   Desert Grind, Scottsdale, Arizona June 2001, May 2001, April 2000

•   We're All Fed Up and Sorry, Gallery 515, Phoenix, Arizona April 2005

•   Flora, Orange Table, Scottsdale, Arizona April 2005

•   Spring Exhibition, Gallery 515, Phoenix, Arizona May 2005

•   Upgrade – Artist made Birdhouses, Made, Phoenix, Arizona May 2005

•   Art Detour, Gallery 515, Phoenix, Arizona March 2004

•   Versus, Gallery 515, Phoenix, Arizona March 2005

•   Body of Work, Gallery 515, Phoenix, Arizona November 2004

•   Fashion Show, 3 Car Pile Up, Phoenix, Arizona October 2004

•   Harvest, Eyelounge, Phoenix, Arizona October 2004

•   Chaos Theory 4, 3 Car Pile Up, Phoenix, Arizona October 2004

•   Art Detour, Gallery 515, Phoenix, Arizona March 2004

•   Land: A New Look at Arizona Landscapes, Shemer Art Center & Museum, Scottsdale, Arizona January 2004

•   Sunday at Shemer Silent Auction, Shemer Art Center & Museum, Scottsdale, Arizona October 2003

•   HWC, Calvin Charles, Scottsdale, Arizona October 2003

•   HWC, Civic Center, Phoenix, Arizona October 2003

•   Chaos Theory 4, 3 Car Pile Up, Phoenix, Arizona October 2003

•   6 x 6, Eyelounge, Phoenix, Arizona October 2003

•   Auction, Arizona Human Rights Fund, Phoenix, Arizona June 2003

•   Art Detour, Gallery 515, Phoenix, Arizona March 2003

•   Chaos Theory 3, 3 Car Pile Up, Phoenix, Arizona October 2002

•   515, Gallery 515, Phoenix, Arizona September 2002

•   Valley Fever, ArtFit, Phoenix, Arizona July 2002

•   Visions for Youth 2002, MonOrchid & ArtFit Gallery, Phoenix, Arizona June 2002

•   Pita Jungle, Chandler, Arizona June 2001

•   Seed Gallery, Tempe, Arizona August 2000

•   Be On Neon, Harry Wood Gallery, Tempe, Arizona November 1999

•   Yoni Festival of the Arts, Featured Artist, Icehouse, Phoenix, Arizona February 1999

•   Yoni Festival of the Arts, Step Gallery, Tempe, Arizona February 1999

•   Fusion, Undergraduate Exhibition, Step Gallery, Tempe, Arizona December 1998

•   Fahrenheit 2150, Harry Wood Gallery, Tempe, Arizona August 1998

•   Juried Undergraduate Exhibition, Step Gallery, Tempe, Arizona April 1998

•   Exhibit Designer, Heard Museum, February 2004-Present

•   Preparator, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, May 1999-February 2004

•   Juror for Caesar Chavez Library Public Art, Phoenix Commission on the Arts, March 2003

•   Sculpture Workshop, Scottsdale Cultural Council, July 2002

•   Installation Photographer, The Gift, ICI, September 2002

•   Exhibit Designer, Valley Fever, ArtFit, Phoenix, Arizona, July 2002

•   Exhibit Designer, Visions for Youth, MonOrchid & ArtFit, Phoenix, Arizona, June 2002

•   Exhibit Designer, ArtLink Juried Exhibition, Sandra Day O'Connor Court House, Phoenix, Arizona, October 2001

•   Photography Assistant, Craig Smith, February 2001

•   Art Assistant, Shemer Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona, November 1998

•   Art Assistant, Biltmore Resort, Scottsdale, Arizona, August 1998

•   Artist Collective, Gallery 515, Phoenix, Arizona August 2002-Present

•   International Sculpture Center December 2002-Present

•   ArtistsRegister.com, Phoenix, Arizona January 2003-Present

•   Western Interiors, “Phoenix's Hot Gallery Scene,” July/August 2005

•   Phoenix Home and Garden, “Emerging Artists,” March 2004

•   Alaska Airlines Magazine, “Art of the State,” January 2004

•   New Times, “The Cool Index, ‘Who’s Cool’,” December 4-10, 2003

•   Scottsdale Republic, “A Glimpse of the World at SMoCA,” September 4, 2003

•   Scottsdale Republic, “Korean Artist’s Exhibit Earns ‘Cool’ Label,” May 10, 2003

•   Where Magazine, “Galleries of Downtown Phoenix,” Spring 2003

•   Java Magazine, “Ten Years at Art One Gallery,” March 2003

•   Art in America, "Report from Arizona," December, 2002

•   Arizona Republic, "Preparator Takes Crowbar to Art Exhibits," Sunday January 27, 2002

•   944 Magazine "Fine Art Exhibition" Volume One Issue Three

•   State Press Magazine, Art Palette "Sculptured Visions of a Former Sun Devil," Thursday February 14, 2002

•   Shade Magazine "Valley Fever" August 2002

•   Arizona Republic, Arts People "Gallery Owner Sidelined by Fall,” August 2002