Overcoming stereotypes is just one of the challenges Robin Bozzuto,
left, and Lexie Greene face as they try to make a name for themselves in
the Baltimore art scene.

“Whenever you see affluent housewives starting a business, people are skeptical,” says Bozzuto.

Yes,
in case you’re wondering, they’re both related to big-league property
developer Tom Bozzuto. (He’s Lexie’s father and Robin’s father-in-law.)
But stepping out from that shadow, they’ve been making a name for
themselves as art consultants since founding Bozzuto Greene Art (BGA)
more than a year ago. “We wanted to make viewing and collecting artwork
more attainable, more accessible,” Greene says.

BGA represents 10
Maryland artists whose work ranges from still lifes and landscapes to
abstract and contemporary, selling both to homeowners and businesses for
prices from $150 to as high as $20,000. The company’s concept is to
offer an alternative to the stuffy gallery, showing artists’ work in a
casita-like pool house on the property of Bozzuto’s Charlesmead home, as
well as hosting events and luncheons, and sometimes taking selected
pieces of art to clients’ homes to display them in their prospective
environments. In the first year of business, they have sold nearly 100
pieces and are in the black, they say. “We are serious about this—we
want this to be big,” says the 43-year-old Bozzuto. But that means
achieving a work-life balance, too, since both are mothers of three.

“We
both took time out of the workforce to raise our kids, but eventually
wanted to work again,” says Greene, 37. “We wanted a job that gave us a
flexible schedule, so we could be moms and do the carpool pickup. That’s
when we came up with Bozzuto Greene Art.”

Greene’s love for art
began at a young age, and she earned a master’s degree in arts
administration from New York University. She previously worked at The
Whitney Museum of American Art and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in
New York. Her sister-in-law holds an MBA and has served in top marketing
positions at T. Rowe Price and American Express. And while Bozzuto’s
résumé doesn’t mention art, don’t let that fool you.

“We both love
beautiful, original art,” says Bozzuto. “We like visiting new artists
and meeting with clients and understanding them.” And they say they’ve
only scratched the surface of Baltimore’s vibrant art scene.