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There was a time when Nicole Royse had many hours every week to create
artwork, which she’d been doing since childhood as a lifelong pursuit,
passion and outlet. But after college and the birth of her daughter, Royse
decided to take a break and focus on supporting other local artists
and the Phoenix art scene in general. “I’ve done something like 55 shows in five
years,” she recalls.
Since majoring in art history at Arizona State University in the mid-2000s, Royse
has managed to really get plugged in with the various museums, galleries and
venues around town. In the beginning, she was living in the far East Valley, which
didn’t have a strong arts community. These were the years before the Mesa Arts
Center. Royse felt a calling to become more connected. She wanted to get the
juices flowing and help get the arts moving around the Valley.
At home today, Royse has three kids and a hectic schedule. Her children are
aged four, six and seven. When she’s not running from one school to another for
activities (she volunteers four times a week and helps with many extracurricular
activities), she’s driving back and forth between her home in Tempe and
monOrchid in the heart of Phoenix’s bustling, though small, arts district, where
she has been the full-time curator for the last four years.
Royse grew up in California until high school. Unfortunately, her parents fell into
drug and alcohol abuse and she battled with that environment her entire young
life, retreating into art for solace. Eventually Royse, an only child, ended up
moving in with her grandparents and has had no contact with her parents since.
Fortunately, she was blessed with a very wonderful grandmother. “She’s been the
greatest support in my life, outside of my husband and kids,” she says.
Royse just celebrated 14 years of marriage to her husband, Rob, on Thanksgiving.
Career-wise, the two seem like day and night: she’s a Phoenix arts booster
and curator, whereas he is an auditor for Ernst and Young. “I’ve always been
a self-motivator and a hard worker,” she says. “With my own art, it’s been
more of a personal thing. I hope to get back into painting, but I’ve been a little
creatively stinted.”
After graduating from college, Royse looked for art communities and places to
engage around the Valley. And while she’s made connections and curated at
many different places in the last several years, her strongest connection has
been at monOrchid. For the last four years, serving essentially as a volunteer,
Royse has served as the main curator and informal director for both Shade and
Bokeh galleries.
She patches, she paints, she sands—does all of the installation work—as well as
writes press releases and more. Christopher Oshana, a veteran, PTSD survivor and
photo artist, has been there for Nicole to “help when things get heavy in the install
or when I need to sand and paint walls.” He also provides the gallery with security
for First Friday openings.
Royse reports that the galleries now see an average of 3,000 to 4,000 visitors
every First Friday. MonOrchid is first and foremost an event space, so when
Royse curates, she often has to plan things around various weddings and
corporate shindigs.
One of Royse’s favorite shows to date was “Feminism Today,” a group show
she mounted last year featuring many female artists from various generations
in the Valley. “It was really great to bring all these women together because they
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