Shen's Gallery was established in 1984 as a small 150 square foot gallery space in the Santa Cruz Art Center. Since then, it has moved to several different locations in Santa Cruz, including moving back to the Pacific Garden Mall's retail front two years after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.
Shen's Gallery started as a fine art gallery and a tea shop, selling fine Chinese antiques, contemporary paintings, and fine Chinese I-Hsing tea wares.
As a buyer, April Shen, the owner of Shen's Gallery, has traveled to many places in the countryside in China since 1984, searching for the rarest and the most exquisite antique Chinese furniture and decorative art pieces.
Shen's Gallery began to import and whole-sell Chinese art to outside of Santa Cruz shortly after moving back to the Pacific Garden Mall after the earthquake. During the period of the early to the late 1990's, Shen's Gallery became one of the major leading wholesale companies in the United States selling fine antique Chinese furniture and decorative arts to many retail stores, catalog companies, and design firms until consolidated into its a retail location at 2404 Mission Street, Santa Cruz.
Shen's Gallery specializes in the finest Chinese furniture & decorative art, rare architectural relics, fine collectibles, and other Chinese art objects of investment quality, ranging from the 16th to the 20th century.
After having worked with the manufacturers in China in wood products for many years and after having designed many modern furniture pieces, April Shen has also offered much of her design concept in woodwork through her new line of products in economical compact size and in one-of-a-kind special designs salvaged from high quality old Chinese furniture pieces for her clients.