Gallery owner Nikki Araguz is practicing the art of living
Nikki Araguz has been in the public eye for several years. Now the gallery owner just wants the world to see how normal her life is.
By Alyson Ward | March 6, 2013 | Updated: March 7, 2013 10:11am
http://www.chron.com/life/article/Gallery-owner-Nikki-Araguz-is-practicing-the-art-4333871.phpArt covers the walls from floor to ceiling at the Starving Artist, a new Montrose-area gallery. Tables and glass cases display jewelry, sculpture and trinkets. Sunlight beams through big windows in the converted house on West Alabama, and a toy poodle named Bentley greets visitors at the door.
Last week, one of the gallery's owners - petite, with big blue eyes - welcomed some first-time shoppers.
"We have 67 local artists," she said. "Everything is handmade; you're welcome to look around the studio. My name is Nikki."
They didn't seem to recognize her. But since the Starving Artist opened in December, several customers have realized she's that Nikki: Nikki Araguz, the widow of a Wharton County firefighter who has spent the past three years at the center of a high-profile court battle over the legitimacy of her marriage. She has courted reality TV, become a public speaker, ridden in the Houston Gay Pride Parade. And now, while she waits for the case to wind through the appeals process, she's running an art gallery with her new fiance in the heart of Houston.
