Eva Marie Torrellas, 59, was charged Tuesday afternoon with felony burning of an unoccupied commercial structure in the incident at the House of Art at 306 Hargett St. across from Moore Square.
The fire broke out around 3 a.m. Jan. 7. More than 30 firefighters responded to the blaze, according to the Raleigh Fire Department.
Surveillance video from the business showed a woman stopping in front of the House of Art as a car drove by. She proceeded to walk up while carrying what appeared to be a bag in one hand and a book in the other. A short time later, she is seen exiting the porch as what appears to be smoke blows in front of the camera.
"I've been messed with a lot. For this to happen it's not even a surprise. It's sad to say, but I'm not surprised," business owner Mikhail Wright said at the time.
Coincidentally, a benefit concert to help rebuild the House of Art took place Tuesday night at Pour House Music Hall.
Word of the arrest came just hours before the concert was held to help raise money for the venue - an effort to get the beloved venue back on its feet.
"House of Art is the foundation, but the community came together to show that, 'hey, we can help rebuild the House of Art. Hey, this is not going to stop us right here,'" said Xavier Skinner, one of the curators of the concert and a resident DJ at House of Art.
Skinner and his fellow DJ Joshua Williams - perhaps better known by their DJ names "Professor X" and "Jmar" - described what the space meant to locals before Tuesday's concert.
"Just the overall atmosphere. The bartenders, our bartenders, they're like family. The people that work the door they're like family. Everybody just gives like a very comforting feeling that you can come here and there'll be no issues," said Williams.
Meantime, Sazi Sessoms - who ran the venue before the fire - described the whirlwind week culminating in Torellas' arrest.
"Finding out the news was super devastating to us. But honestly, we've been receiving an outpouring of love from our community. So that's been an amazing thing within itself," said Sessoms.
Skinner called the arrest a step toward justice.
"It's progress," he said. "That's the first step. You know, we've got progress. At least we know that it's been made. You know, it's the first step. Now let's get justice."