Gallery 5 is setting an important new standard in Birmingham. The 4th Avenue North event space, owned and operated by Giani Martin and Dezmon Stovall, has hosted just about every type of occasion since they first opened in November - and wouldn’t have it any other way. Weddings, conferences, office parties, concerts, and holiday events have all taken place at the industrial chic space. People have been drawn to the space due to its customizable and sleek design space operated by two entrepreneurs who have been uplifting the city’s social scene for years.
Martin and Stovall have been friends for more than 5 years now, but Dezmon actually knew another member of his business partner’s family first. “I met Giani’s mom way back in 2015/2016 and she would always talk about her son. She’d say ‘Oh you need to meet him one day’ but we never really actually met until a mutual friend introduced and that’s when I made the connection,” Dezmon explains, “From that point, we started hanging out and a little bit down the line - probably a year or so later - Giani started a series called ‘Sunday Series Birmingham’ and I started helping out with the event where I could. I also launched another business I owned that was a mobile hookah company so we combined forces there.”
The ventures were going great and the two forward-thinkers soon determined that acquiring a physical space was their next wisest step. They began looking at different potential spaces but nothing felt quite right until Dezmon saw the perfect space after dropping Giani off one night. “It was love at first sight I guess you could say,” Stovall reflects. The building hadn’t been used for anything but storage space in about four years and had some major work to be done to look like the Gallery 5 we know today, but their shared vision left little doubt that this was the location that would bring a new experience to the Magic City.
Giani and Dezmon - along with a team of dedicated family and friends - began work to repair and reshape the space in May. The floor, bathrooms, and upstairs room were all key focus points in these months. The duo also partnered with DrapeScapes for a stunning installation and plans to continue partnering with the large-scale creative. “That was our process of transforming the space into what it is now,” Martin shares of the undertaking.
The transformation was immediately rewarded with excitement from the Magic City. There are multiple fantastic event spots throughout Birmingham, but the sleek yet customizable feel of Gallery 5 brings its own feel to the scene. The two business owners still host live events themselves and the experience has them going the extra mile when it comes to accommodating the party planners that choose the 4th Ave N space to house their event. The overall purpose of the space is to provide “a place to foster creative ideas. Somewhere for people to gather around and have fun.”
Dezmon and Giani are proud to be doing what they are doing in the Magic City and recognize the purpose in the space’s existence. “I feel like it’s super important to be in Birmingham doing this because sometimes we move our young people to larger cities. We lose them because there’s a fuel and a rigor that they see in other cities that sometimes they don’t get the chance to see in Birmingham,” Martin shares, “We do have a responsibility to showcase Birmingham in the best light possible so we don’t just attract new people to the city but also keep who we do have. At Gallery 5 we really have the ability to foster community and help people appreciate where they are.”
We appreciate the community built around this Birmingham business.
