ENTERING SITKA HOME ART GALLERY ON NEWBURY STREET IS LIKE DISCOVERING A GARDEN OASIS IN AN URBAN JUNGLE. PEOPLE WERE COMING IN AND THANKING US FOR BEING HERE. THE FEEDBACK WAS GREAT. WHILE THIS SECOND ACT HAS LANDED, ARTIST SITKA IN THIS PEACEFUL GALLERY SPACE, THEIR STORY BEGAN IN THE COMPETITIVE NEW YORK FASHION SCENE. THAT’S WHEN, AS A NEWLYWED COUPLE IN THE LATE 80S, THEY CAUGHT THE ATTENTION OF A BRAND YOU MIGHT KNOW. WE WERE BOTH ARTISTS, BOTH TEXTILE DESIGNERS, AND WE ENDED UP OPENING UP OUR OWN DESIGN STUDIO. AND WE WERE VERY FORTUNATE THAT RALPH LAUREN WAS ONE OF OUR FIRST CUSTOMERS. HELENE WOULD GO ON TO TAKE A STAFF POSITION DESIGNING FOR THE LAUREN BY RALPH LAUREN SCARF COLLECTION IN SEARCH OF COLORFUL AND INNOVATIVE PRINTS. SHE DIDN’T HAVE TO LOOK FAR. IT WAS TO MY BENEFIT. RALPH LAUREN LIKED MY WORK AND THEY SAID, WILL YOU WORK WITH US DIRECTLY? HE WAS LIKE A MACHINE, JUST CREATING PRINTS AND PATTERNS, AND RALPH WOULD WALK BY AND GIVE HIM A THUMBS UP. AND IT WAS AN INCREDIBLE EXPERIENCE WORKING, DESIGNING FOR RALPH LAUREN FOR OVER 20 YEARS. SO WHAT TOOK YOU FROM NEW YORK TO BOSTON? 2015, WORLD WIDE LAYOFFS. AND UNFORTUNATELY, I GOT LAID OFF AS A FREELANCER. SITKA ALSO FOUND HIMSELF UNEMPLOYED, BUT HIS CONFIDENCE REMAINED UNBROKEN. SITKA ALWAYS SAID, WE HAVE A TALENT. NOBODY CAN TAKE THAT AWAY FROM US. I GREW UP IN THE SOUTH SHORE, SO WE CAME BACK AND SITKA WAS PAINTING AT HOME EVERY SINGLE DAY. MY HAND PAINTING ON THE SCARVES AND THE PILLOWS. AND THEN WE STARTED SELLING THEM IN WAYFAIR BACK IN NEW YORK, AND WE WERE VERY SUCCESSFUL. BUT THEN THE PANDEMIC HAPPENED. IN BOSTON, SITKA BEGAN REDEDICATING HIMSELF TO HIS FINE ART WORK. AFTER FALLING SICK DURING COVID, HE DOUBLED DOWN ON THIS PASSION. BUT PAINTING AT HOME WAS GETTING CLAUSTROPHOBIC. BY OCTOBER, NOVEMBER, HE’S LIKE, I NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE. I NEED A LOCATION. AND I’M LIKE, OKAY, I’M ON IT. AND SO WITHIN 24 HOURS, I SENT THE RIGHT EMAIL TO THE RIGHT PERSON. AND WITHIN TWO WEEKS WE WERE MOVED IN. I WANT TO SHOUT OUT TO MY LANDLORDS, THANK YOU, THANK YOU. NEWBURY STREET IS THE BEST. I WALKED IN HERE AND I WAS, WOW. TO BE KNOWN AS A NEW ARTIST, YOU HAVE TO DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT. I LOVE COLOR. PEOPLE WEAR COLOR. AND THEN THE NUTRITION IS THEY TALK ABOUT EAT COLOR. I’M LIKE, LOOK AT COLOR. MANY DAYS YOU’LL FIND SITKA PAINTING IN STUDIO ALONG WITH FLOWERS AND BUTTERFLIES. HIS ART CONTAINS LOCAL INFLUENCE FROM CAPE COD TO BOSTON PUBLIC GARDEN. MOST PIECES ARE FOR SALE, BUT NOT EVERYTHING. I’M SURE PEOPLE HAVE TOLD YOU THIS LOOKS LIKE A MONET. WHEN I CAPTURED THE MOMENT SIMILAR TO HIS STYLE, I DECIDED I’M GOING TO PUT ON AN ANTIQUE FRAME AND NOT TO SELL IT. IT’S GOING TO STAY IN MY FAMILY NOW. NO PRICE TAG IN 2023, THE COUPLE HOSTED A SPECIAL EXHIBIT, MY HAND BEHIND RALPH LAUREN PRINCE, 1990S THROUGH 2015. WHILE IT FEATURED A DECADE OF WORK FOR THE ICONIC LABEL, NONE OF IT EVER BORE HIS OWN NAME. BUT NOW WHEN YOU WALK IN, EVERYTHING IS
From fashion to fine art on Newbury Street
After careers with Ralph Lauren, Sitka and Helaine Gulergun open a colorful Boston gallery.
Updated: 8:47 PM EDT Jun 9, 2026
Sitka and Helaine Gulergun, former Ralph Lauren designers, have transformed their artistic journey into Sitka Home Art Gallery on Newbury Street, offering visitors a colorful and peaceful escape. “People were coming in and thanking us for being here and being able to come in and seeing such beautiful colors,” Helaine Gulergun said. The couple’s story began in the competitive New York fashion scene, where they worked as textile designers and caught the attention of Ralph Lauren in the late 1980s. “We were both artists, both textile designers, and we ended up opening our own design studio. And we were very fortunate that Ralph Lauren was one of our first customers,” Helaine said. In 2015, layoffs across the fashion industry brought their time with Ralph Lauren to an end. As a freelancer, Sitka also found himself unemployed, but he remained optimistic. “Sitka always said, ‘We have talent. We have our talent.’ He said, ‘Nobody can take that away from us,'” Helaine said. The couple relocated to Boston, where Helaine had grown up, and Sitka began painting at home daily. But the pandemic brought new challenges. “By October, November, he’s like, ‘I need to get out of here, I need a location,’ and I’m like, ‘OK, I’m on it.’ And so, within 24 hours, I sent the right email to the right person, and within two weeks, we were moved in,” Helaine said. Inside the gallery, Sitka’s vibrant paintings immediately capture attention. “To be known as a new artist, you have to do something different. I love color. People wear color, and then the nutritionist, they talk about eat color. I’m like, ‘Look at color,'” Sitka said. In 2023, the couple hosted a special exhibit titled “My Hand Behind Ralph Lauren Prints: 1990s-2015,” showcasing decades of work for the iconic label. “But now when you walk in, everything is my name on it,” Sitka said.
BOSTON —
Sitka and Helaine Gulergun, former Ralph Lauren designers, have transformed their artistic journey into Sitka Home Art Gallery on Newbury Street, offering visitors a colorful and peaceful escape.
“People were coming in and thanking us for being here and being able to come in and seeing such beautiful colors,” Helaine Gulergun said.
The couple’s story began in the competitive New York fashion scene, where they worked as textile designers and caught the attention of Ralph Lauren in the late 1980s.
“We were both artists, both textile designers, and we ended up opening our own design studio. And we were very fortunate that Ralph Lauren was one of our first customers,” Helaine said.
In 2015, layoffs across the fashion industry brought their time with Ralph Lauren to an end.
As a freelancer, Sitka also found himself unemployed, but he remained optimistic.
“Sitka always said, ‘We have talent. We have our talent.’ He said, ‘Nobody can take that away from us,'” Helaine said.
The couple relocated to Boston, where Helaine had grown up, and Sitka began painting at home daily. But the pandemic brought new challenges.
“By October, November, he’s like, ‘I need to get out of here, I need a location,’ and I’m like, ‘OK, I’m on it.’ And so, within 24 hours, I sent the right email to the right person, and within two weeks, we were moved in,” Helaine said.
Inside the gallery, Sitka’s vibrant paintings immediately capture attention.
“To be known as a new artist, you have to do something different. I love color. People wear color, and then the nutritionist, they talk about eat color. I’m like, ‘Look at color,'” Sitka said.
In 2023, the couple hosted a special exhibit titled “My Hand Behind Ralph Lauren Prints: 1990s-2015,” showcasing decades of work for the iconic label.
“But now when you walk in, everything is my name on it,” Sitka said.