Woman-Owned Houston Art Gallery Builds a Community of Art Lovers With Special Exhibitions and Events Galore

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It seems like Houston is bursting at the seams with art and culture, with galleries across the city showcasing incredible talent and waves of creativity. ELLIO Fine Art, a tastemaker in the Houston art gallery lineup, is celebrating its first anniversary this November.

ELLIO was founded in 2021 by Trish Matute with the help of her cherished former coworkers and art aficionados Harwood Taylor and Brian Freeze. With a vision to celebrate art’s profound purpose, Matute set her sights on opening an art gallery in her home city. Her vision started to come to life when she stumbled upon a dream location in a historic building in a prime Houston location, right off the bayou at 3201 Allen Parkway. The 100-year-old building formerly served as the home of both Stages Theatre and The Children’s Museum.

Matute partnered with a pro-bono branding agency, and it was off to the races. Despite the daunting mission of opening a gallery with the COVID-19 pandemic still going on.

“Everything truly just started falling into place,” Matute says. “While it was hard to start a gallery during a pandemic, every door opened for us. The community was incredibly supportive, and artists that we had worked with wanted to join us on the journey — as well as fantastic new talent too.”

Matute envisioned ELLIO as a space for people to come to peruse new art and serious collectors who are on the hunt for their next addition.

“We love for people to just stop in and talk about artists and the artwork,” Matute says. “We always want to create a space where people feel welcome to come and just be around the art.”

Welcoming the community to the gallery and introducing Houstonians to new art is now the ELLIO team’s mission. The gallery is focused on building community and relationships, as well as showing people all the benefits that art has to offer outside of simply being visually stimulating.

The 1,500-square-foot gallery typically has at least 50 pieces of art on display at any one time. From as many as 30 artists who span across all mediums and disciplines. From sculpture and painting to prints and photography.

Since its opening, the gallery has hosted several solo exhibitions, including New York City painter and photographer Leslie Parke, Texas sculptor Tara Conley and Houston painter Joan Steinman. In only a year, ELLIO has brought in artists from all around the nation, as well as a few from Europe. 

In August, ELLIO hosted its first group exhibition during The Heights’ White Linen Night Party focused on art, music and the community.

ELLIO even plays a hand at commissioning and managing a massive public art. The gallery tapped artist Ender Martos to complete a large public art project commissioned by a tech-focused Fortune 500 company. Titled “Rebirth of Technology,” the 30-foot by 25-foot outdoor sculpture is made of steel, limestone and LED lighting. 

To kick off a new art season, ELLIO recently enlisted Texas multidisciplinary artist Sarah Sudhoff for a solo exhibition titled” Material Witness” in tandem with fotofest, featuring work by the Cuban American multi disciplinary artist.  Sarah was awarded a grant from the City of Houston, funded through the Houston Arts Alliance, to further examine the topic of domestic violence through her artwork and engage with the community. 10% of proceeds from the exhibition, which ended in October, went to furthering the mission of the Houston Area Women’s Center.

As for what’s ahead for ELLIO, the talented, art loving trip has big plans. After a groundbreaking first year, the gallery has big plans to continue its mission to bring a diverse group of artist to the forefront and cultivate valuable relationships with their collectors. 

The Color Box Group Show, set to take place at the space on November 11th to celebrate the gallery’s first anniversary, will benefit the Coolxdads Organization with an arty cool atmosphere.

In addition to the celebratory group show this month, the gallery is hosting a solo exhibition for Houston artist John Pavlicek. In 2023, the first show of the year will be a solo exhibition of Houston artist LaMonte French, the first artist who joined ELLIO Fine Art. 

Yes, the art just keeps coming at ELLIO.

For more information, check out ELLIO Fine Art’s full website or stop by the gallery at 3201 Allen Parkway from 10 am to 5 pm, Mondays through Saturdays. You can also schedule a private tour with one of the gallery’s advisors to view new artwork in the striking space.