On May 7, the Downtown Cranford office held a ribbon cutting for Filo Sofi Arts, an art gallery owned by Gabrielle Aruta, located at 103 Miln Street. Filo Sofi Arts is born out of Gabrielle’s desire to use both philosophy and art to enhance the lives of art collectors and the community. Gabrielle opened her first gallery in 2017 in the LES. The pandemic brought Gabrielle back home to her parents, and when the opportunity arose to open a gallery that allowed her to be closer to her family, she couldn’t pass it up.
The front half of the gallery space is currently showing the exhibition “Shrine to Beauty,” which showcases art from 6 different artists. The show will be at Filo Sofi Arts for 5 weeks, and Gabrielle and her senior appraiser, Kourosh Mahboubian, already have 7 additional shows in the works.
“The goal of this gallery is to engage people with art in a meaningful way,” said Gabrielle. “We want to educate people about collecting art and the role it can play in their lives. When you collect art, you can curate the world you’d like to see on your walls.”
Eventually Gabrielle and Kourosh plan to use the 2nd exhibition space in the back for additional exhibits, as well as workshops for children and adults. The current exhibit is an illustration of Gabrielle’s belief that “people should be challenged by art.” The artwork allows people to confront the objective and subjective views of beauty, and see which art and artists appeal to them. There will be receptions for the “Shrine to Beauty” exhibit May 7-9 from 4-8PM.
For information on the gallery, as well as the exhibits and artists featured, please visit the website for Filo Sofi Arts, https://filosofiarts.com/. We’re so happy to welcome Gabrielle and the Filo Sofi Arts team to the Downtown Cranford community!