Admire art and grab a coffee at this newly-opened gallery in Colleyville
A Tarrant County couple recently opened an art gallery with a twist in Colleyville. At the Art Algebra studio, at 1001 Glade Road Suite 100 right next door to girligirl boutique, patrons can admire art and then head to a coffee bar right inside the gallery.
Aashna Bharwani and Aatif Merchant, who have backgrounds in education and economics, decided to open the gallery because of their interest in art and design and love of meaningful art pieces they frequently saw at festivals.
Merchant told the Star-Telegram they named the gallery Art Algebra because it combines the artwork with customers finding the perfect piece for them.
“The algebra is finding the missing piece that curates your home, that finishes what you want to decorate and makes your life complete,” Merchant said.
The couple said they frequently visited India recently and were taken with artists who created individual art pieces by hand and who had learned special techniques from generations of family members.
The gallery has a variety of pieces, including one called “Circle of Life” that Bharwani says aims to portray oneness with nature and took the artist 40 days to create.
Bharwani and Merchant started out showcasing the art they brought back from their India trips at local pop-ups in Texas, often at coffee shops like Pax and Beneficia. During one of those pop-ups, a regular at the coffee shop was waiting on his order and was admiring the art. The couple said he later returned with his partner to purchase one of the large pieces.
Merchant said that affirmed what they believed that people wanted unique pieces that were one of a kind.
Many of the pieces hold special meanings like luck, wealth, prosperity and fertility. The couple wanted to expand with artwork from Dubai, Turkey, Egypt and Pakistan.
“All those places where artisanship is still very much alive,” Merchant said.
They also wanted to expand by working with interior decorators and special buyers, but quickly realized they would need a space to show and store the artwork.
The couple chose the space in Colleyville and started remodeling during their engagement; the space opened during a soft launch in March.
Art Algebra and coffee
The other idea born from those pop-ups was having a coffee bar right inside their gallery.
“Both of us are coffee and matcha people, we’re like multiple-drinks-a-day-type of people,” Merchant said.
Merchant said the idea worked perfectly because the space had a hidden corner that was previously used to make pizza. They source their coffee beans from Dallas-based LDU coffee, which does an Australian take on Italian espresso.
To go with the vibe of the handmade art, the couple decided on small rotating flavors of coffee and matcha. Some of the flavors include maple nut, berries and cream and a honeybee latte.
“I think that one thing that really matters for us, especially in this world of art, is having kind of that personal connection, not only to the art but to us as well,” Bharwani told the Star-Telegram. “We want our clients to be able to trust us.”
The couple does monthly vendor pop-ups like the ones that gave them their start as well as Mahjong nights, kids’ art classes and more.
The Colleyville Chamber of Commerce will host the official ribbon cutting for Art Algebra Tuesday, July 14 from 11 a.m. to noon.