Pellas Gallery co-owner Isabel Arguello brings culture and community to Newbury Street.

Gallery owners Alfredo Pellas and Isabel Arguello

For Alfredo Pellas and Isabel Arguello, collecting contemporary art from galleries around the world began as a hobby. As luck would have it, though, the aesthetes—who at the time were working in finance and the natural health industry, respectively—soon realized they had a knack for hand-picking works that later soared in value. “We [thought], okay, we’re onto something here,” Arguello recalls.

So they launched an art investment fund, focusing their efforts on traveling internationally to art fairs and acquiring pieces they believed would appreciate in the coming years. Eventually, an idea began to percolate: What if they opened a space to showcase and sell artwork?

The Pellas Gallery debuted on Newbury Street in 2019

Enter Pellas Gallery (pellasgallery.com) the Back Bay outfit Pellas and Arguello debuted on Newbury Street in 2019. Although the entrepreneurs maintain homes in New York, Miami and Boston, they ultimately decided that setting up shop in the Hub would have “the most impact,” Arguello says. “There are so many galleries in New York, and Miami is just not the vibe we were looking for,” she adds. “[With] Boston, we thought there are so many artists who don’t have a space to show their art. We could bring something different to the city.”

Now, five years into their venture, Pellas and Arguello remain committed to that vision. While the pair also represent artists from far-flung locales like England and Japan, they prioritize local talent including mixed-media whiz Timmy Sneaks and collage artist Slimesunday. The team has also dipped its toes into the area’s interior design scene: No strangers to helping sellers stage homes with gorgeous artwork, Pellas and Arguello also collaborate with designers on dressing up new builds. “I’ve always said this, but art makes a house a home,” Arguello says. “When I work with interior designers, it’s beautiful to see how much they appreciate fine art.”

Still, for Pellas and Arguello, running a successful gallery isn’t limited to the pieces they sell. The team—which recently relocated its operations to a bigger and brighter Newbury Street space—also hosts at least eight events per month, welcoming in would-be clients for everything from exhibition openings and artist talks to yoga classes. “I used to live in Cape Town, South Africa, and each Thursday they would do gallery walks [where] every gallery on this street would open their doors and have wine and make it like a fun activity,” Arguello explains. “We want to bring that sense of community and culture to Boston.”