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When you walk into Luckygirl Gourmet Gallery, the first thing that catches your eye is the art: a bright sunshine yellow diptych by Tom Relth, twisted abstract forms in calming indigos and teals by Eric Rue, playful bright and warm landscapes by Paul Solevad, and collections of figurative works with a variety of approaches by Michelle Yamamoto, Richard Cutshall, and Paula Bullwinkel.
After you enter, you descend into the gallery space down a short flight of stairs; at the far end, you’ll find a gallery desk and shop corner with treats stocked in refrigerators and on shelves, the second layer.
“It’s my version of exiting through the gift shop,” says founder Nikki Brovold, who opened Luckygirl in Portland’s Pearl District last month.
The selection is intentionally narrow, the curated offerings lean toward what Brovold calls “executive drinks” and elevated snacks, items that feel indulgent, bespoke, and in alignment with the general vibe of Luckygirl. “That’s half of consuming it,” Brovold says. “The visual draw is real.”
Among her current favorites: rosemary and sea salt shortbread cookies from Makabi & Sons; actual Swedish‑made sour candies flavored in non-Red 40 flavors like sour raspberry and black currant; and Puff Coffee’s selections of caffeinated beverages. Brovold’s reaches for the half‑caf cold brew designed for the customer who wants energy “without adding to the weirdness of the day.”
Shawn Przybilla, the space’s co-owner and Brovold’s husband, is fond of Zingerman’s candy bars—especially the mini variety packs that give the false illusion that he moderates his sugar intake by eating the small bars. (“In reality, I eat the entire bag,” he says.) He also loves Bonilla a La Vista potato chips, washed down with a Maté Party Sparkling Mint Grapefruit Tea.
The name Luckygirl Gourmet Gallery may suggest a hybrid space. But founder Brovold and her husband Przybilla are clear about the order of operations.
“This space is more art first,” Brovold says of the new gallery, which opened about a month ago in Portland’s Pearl District. “The food comes second, but the two have always belonged together for me.”
Brovold’s art world bona fides include work alongside artists at a global consulting firm in New York and, more recently, a stint as a gallerist at the Portland Art Museum.
“My joy is to work with artists,” she says. The gallery inaugural exhibition, Who’s That Girl, features work by nine invited artists—with a focus on abstractive figuration and feminine perspectives. Individual exhibitions are scheduled on roughly four‑week cycles throughout the rest of the year. Artists are curated from a mixture of Brovold’s relationships formed during her professional experiences and others from broader creative networks. Later in the month, an exhibition by Eric Rue will open, with large expansive paintings that will engage in scale relating the space’s architecture. Brovold discovered Rue during an open studio visit at Northwest Marine Art Works last fall.
But the name Luckygirl harks back to another period in Brovold’s career: In the 2000s, she opened Luckygirl Gourmet Grocery in Minneapolis. That only lasted about a year, but the concept never fully left her.
“I had this neon Luckygirl sign in our backyard,” she says. “I finally said, whatever we do next, let’s make it a little bit Luckygirl.”
Then, when she and Przybilla founded the gallery space, she says, “we just said, ‘Let’s do this.’”
“This really does feel like the honeymoon era of opening a gallery,” Brovold says. “There’s excitement, possibility, and a sense of luck—but also intention.”
SEE IT: Luckygirl Gourmet Gallery, 1604 NW 15th Ave., luckygirl.gallery. Noon–6 pm Wednesday–Saturday.
