Meet The Team

Cari Payer is the founder of First City Creatives. Prior to moving to Kansas in August 2020, Cari worked as a travel magazine photographer while leading photography workshops across the globe, including Indonesia, Japan, Mongolia, and Germany. She now teaches both beginner and advanced photography classes, as well the after-school art classes. As an avid supporter of the arts, she is passionate about giving every person the opportunity to enjoy and benefit from art, be it from teaching or learning. Cari loves animals, helping others, traveling, her two daughters, and any and all forms of art.

She is the friendly face of First City Creatives!

After growing up in Western Colorado, Anna has lived on both coasts of the US and in various spots between with her husband and two kids. She enjoys many different craft mediums including wire, jewelry, sewing (just don’t ask her to follow a pattern), painting, photography, and anything else that comes up that needs making or fixing, or altering. A new project is always an exciting excuse to get fun tools and learn different techniques. Making things has always been Anna’s happy place and she looks forward to sharing the skills she has acquired over the years.

Nancy grew up around Nashville, TN and graduated from Middle Tennessee State University in 2007 with a BS in Biology. She then served in the United States Army for four years, which included two deployments to Afghanistan. Nancy and her family have lived in many places including Virginia, Georgia, Hawaii, and here in Leavenworth, Kansas.
​Nancy has been moved by art throughout her life. She started painting and drawing at a very young age. At thirteen she took an oil painting class at Volunteer State Community College with her mother and fell in love with the medium. In 2015, she started doing commissioned work. In 2019, she started working with resin casting and resin and wood projects. In 2022, she started selling at art and craft shows around Honolulu, Hi. In 2022, Life In The Moment Art became an official LLC.
​Her travels and experiences have played a large role in the development of her painting style, subject, and expression. She loves a good hike with her family, working in her garden, or a gathering with friends. She will never turn down a good cup of coffee or tea and can often be found in a local coffee shop with a watercolor close at hand.

Hi! I’m Whitney Pearce. I have lived in Leavenworth for five years now. I love all things creative and love to help foster others’ needs to create, as well! I’m excited to be having the opportunity to teach classes! I have sewn for all of my life, and love to continue to grow in my knowledge of the art!

Attorney by day, a crafter by night, Sherri has been trying new crafts and honing her crafting skills since she was a girl growing up in rural Iowa.  She has been stamping, scrapbooking, and paper crafting since the 90s and loves mixing and matching colors, patterns, and textures to get everything just right.  She enjoys documenting the special as well as the ordinary everyday events in life and putting together the perfect card to brighten someone’s day.  She especially delights in making handcrafted décor items that you can display at home and show off your crafting skills!  When not lawyering or crafting, Sherri is a mom of two, girlfriend extraordinaire, and caretaker of a menagerie of furry and feathery critters.