When business partners Ray Ball and Molly Rappoli decided to open their first brick and mortar art gallery and espresso bar, they thought Lexington Center was just the place.
The pair found the community fit their ideal customer demographic, the town had a vibrant town center they could join, and people in Lexington seem to appreciate art.
“Once you layer in looking at the artist communities, or how engaged artists are in any town, Lexington really fit for us — between LexArts and the Munroe Center, Lexington has a lot of very talented fine artists,” Ball told the Observer.
So Ball and Rappoli started touring spaces, and looked at the storefront where Revival Coffee now lives.
“That space needed more work than we were looking for,” Ball said about the storefront that used to house a Starbucks.
But while touring that space, Ball and Rappoli noticed there was an open space across the street. They looked through the window, liked what they saw, tracked down the landlord, and got a tour.
“We stepped into the place and we knew that’s exactly where we wanted to start our business,” Ball recalled.
That was about three years ago. Now, Ball and Rappoli’s lease is coming to an end.
“When your lease is up, you sort of have to take a look at the past couple of years and figure out what your next step is going to be,” Ball explained. “We sort of outgrew the space itself kind of early on.”
The partners looked at where their collectors (the people who buy art from them) come from and noticed most are from outside of Lexington.
“We realized that we should be in a central place where more people across our part of Massachusetts can reach us,” Ball explained.
That led Ball and Rappoli to the “bittersweet” decision to not re-sign their lease in Lexington and instead move to a new space at 450 Harrison Ave. in Boston’s South End.
“[Boston’s South End] really is a hub of art and design,” Ball said. “There are lots of artist studios around, interior designers, architects — the community itself is a pretty vibrant arts and design scene.”
Galaray House will transition out of Lexington and into Boston next month. Ball and Rappoli’s goal is to open in Boston on June 5.
Ball said Galaray House will carry its same objective in Boston — that fine art is for everyone.
“We still are striving to be an approachable gallery, one that really engages with a community of art collectors and artists in a spot that people just really want to be in,” he said. “Our mission remains the same, that fine art is approachable.”
Ball is excited to elevate the work of some local artists in the city through this move. Galaray House has featured local artists and artists from around the world alike. From Lexington, the studio features Sam Andrews and Sirarpi Heghinian Walzer, among others.
“There are so many artists that are local that we feel should be a lot more popular than they are,” Ball said. “We’re really excited to introduce some of our local artists to new collectors.”
The art gallery won’t, however, pack its espresso bar up for its move to the city. Ball said they will instead host regular coffee pop-ups at the new space.
Reminiscing on his time in Lexington, Ball told the Observer one of his favorite memories is when one of Galaray House’s international artists from Germany flew to the States for his “First Friday” feature. First Friday is an evening event that takes place on the first Friday of each month, where the gallery features new work and offers visitors snacks and refreshments.
That was the German artist’s first time ever visiting the US, Ball said.
“That was a really nice moment where we could see this German artist in the United States for the first time, how excited he was, and how engaged the community was with his art — that was a really great memory,” Ball said.
Ball will also miss the day-to-day operations in Lexington.
“A lot of our customers have become really great friends, like people that I would not have known if we didn’t open in Lexington,” he said. “We’re going to miss our community a lot.”
Galaray House will continue hosting First Fridays in Boston, alongside other galleries in the South End neighborhood that also celebrate the monthly tradition.
“We’re looking forward to the First Fridays where it’s not just us,” Ball said. “It’s all of our neighbors drawing people in, like a real good sense of community.”
All in all, this move brings up mixed emotions for Ball and Rappoli.
“We’re really gonna miss Lexington. It’s always gonna be a piece of us because it’s literally where we started our business for the first time. It’s always going to be a part of our history,” Ball said. “While in the next phase of our growth, Lexington isn’t necessarily going to be a part of its day-to-day, we’re still here for the community.”