As early as March of 2000 Angela King began her search for a building on Royal Street. The space she had rented for over twenty years was lovely but still not hers. Preliminary research continued sporadically until 2004 when she and her then partner, Scott Hanson, enlisted the help of an agent to secure 241 Royal Street. As with any real estate venture this turned into a lengthy process. Finally in August of that year the papers were signed. Step one down, building purchased. Now for the next part of the process, the building came with a tenant. Negotiations stalled and another building was rented in the 500 block of Royal to house the gallery.

Katrina helped to move those negotiations forward and by the end of 2005 we were able to move into the building. That is to say, we were able to store things in the space. Over the years this building had been many things, a grocery, a shoe factory, an antique store, but one thing it had not been in a number of years was loved. Beautiful marble floors had been covered over with carpet. That carpet was further covered with dirt and ash. The ceiling had been painted black, the walls a particularly bilious shade of green. The electrical system was questionable as was the plumbing. It was going to take a lot of work to make this into an art gallery.

Further complicating the renovations was the dissolution of Angela King’s relationship with Hanson Gallery. Months of negotiations kept the building in limbo. Finally in November of 2006 those papers were signed and Angela King became the sole owner of 241 Royal Street, future home of the Angela King | Gallery. Now the renovations could proceed. And proceed they did. Out came the crow bars and the sledge hammers. Out came the carpet and the ugly walls (revealing a little stash of chicken bones). Toilets that terrified were ripped out and replaced with new fixtures, and lights. Floors were power washed, polished, or installed, depending on their location. Fresh new sheetrock walls, track lighting loaded with bulbs and the ceiling painted white, this dark cave was coming around. Plans of the building that were on file at the Vieux Carré Commission indicated that the building had once had windows that opened onto Bienville, thus we were able to remove the cinder blocks that had been used to fill them in and once again the space was flooded with natural light. The transformation was astonishing. What had been a dark, poorly lit place was now light and airy; the marble floor had been sanded and re-grouted, blond wood flooring replaced bare cement industrial steel doors parted to reveal art storage.

To see a video taken at the April 14th Grand Opening click here.
To see a slide show from the opening click here.