Art worth the trip

We believe everyone can find something here. The collector with a shipping account and the couple on their first trip who never thought of themselves as art people are looking at the same walls, and both leave with something they didn't expect. Something for everyone. Nothing for some people.

What we show is contemporary work from artists you won't find elsewhere on the island, and in many cases anywhere in Florida. Original paintings, sculpture, limited editions, and a few things that are hard to categorize. Key West has a long tradition of local art, and we love it. We're here to add to it, not repeat it.

At a moment when anything can be generated in seconds, we're more interested than ever in what a person can make with their hands and their attention. That's the whole idea. Come see it in person.

How we work

Visit. Open seven days in season. Off-season Mondays are by appointment, which is the quiet way to see everything.

Collect. We'll tell you the price, the story, and whether it will work in your space. No pressure, ever. Whether you're here for a week or you live around the corner.

Ship. Anywhere in the US and most places beyond. Crating, insurance, and delivery handled here, so nothing has to fit in a suitcase.

Trade. Designers and architects are welcome. First looks on new arrivals and private client viewings are a note away. Get in touch.

The people

OWNER AND DIRECTOR

Lauren Howard

@lauren.curates

Lauren didn't come up through the art world, and she'll tell you that's the point. She came to it the way most of our clients do: something stopped her, and she wanted to know why. She's been fascinated ever since by what it is that stops a person, why one work pulls you across a room while a hundred others let you walk past.

She took the lead at Monarch to build the gallery she wanted to walk into: contemporary, serious about the work, and unbothered about whether you know the right words for it. Her reference points run from the Sagrada Família and the Winged Victory of Samothrace to the artists on these walls, and the thread is the same. In a world where anything can be generated, look at what people can make.

Off the floor, she's a born and raised Washington football fan, believes a coffee and kouign-amann from La Grignote is the right way to start a day, and a bottle of wine from Uva on the back porch is the right way to end one.

Tell her what stopped you. She actually wants to know the answer.

Currently reading: Now Is the Time of Monsters by A.G. Mock

GALLERY OPERATIONS DIRECTOR

Micah Wright

Micah has spent nearly two decades in fine art, most of it running a high-volume gallery on the Las Vegas Strip, which means there is no shipping, framing, or inventory question she hasn't already answered. Her expertise covers the whole life of a work: acquisition, custom archival framing, collector relations, and the artist collaborations that bring new work to our walls.

She holds a BFA in photography and has a deep background in blue-chip work. She operates from Las Vegas and builds the systems that keep Monarch running cleanly behind the scenes. Be direct with her. She will be direct back.

Off the clock she's raising one of the coolest kids you'll ever meet, which is the same job with less paperwork.

Currently reading: Liespotting by Pamela Meyer
Listening to: Doechii
Working on: her ceramic skills

One block from the Hemingway Home, on the stretch of Duval Street where Key West does its best wandering, Monarch Gallery is easy to find and hard to leave.

FIND US