Marlena Hebenstreit grew up in a family of professional artists in Cincinnati, Ohio. She was exposed to many art genres from childhood but found the old masters' classical paintings her favorite. With natural sensitivity and passion, Marlena draws in the audience's attention. She tells a story with a single image that evokes a lasting impression in the viewer's heart.

One of her greatest honors was painting the collection dedicated to Martin Luther King Jr for the MOSA Fine Art Gallery. Marlena desired to show his humble soul, uniting the black community and guiding protesters in non-violent activism as they fought for racial equality.

A graduate of the Cincinnati Academy of Design, she began her career as a commission artist at the Pendleton Art Center in Over-the-Rhine. She first worked in gouache and acrylic but soon fell in love with the versatility of oil paint," the medium that forgives." Marlena has painted a variety of subject matter over the years, portraiture being her favorite. Her paintings belong in many local and national collections. Always wanting to improve her craft, she continues to study painting and life drawing at the Cincinnati Art Academy.

Marlena is the mom of three wildly creative children. She lives and works in the eclectic Gaslight District of Clifton, Cincinnati, Ohio, where inspiration is found every day.