If these walls could talk, they'd speak of the buzz of some of Lino Tagliapietra's biggest exhibition openings here, as well as the anxious anticipation at some of the Northwest Coast debuts of artists such as Martin Blank, Sonja Blomdahl, Dante Marioni, and Preston Singletary. After 32 years and hosting over 100 exhibition openings, the second-floor space overlooking Union and First Avenue stands eerily empty. At an intimate farewell party, the Traver Gallery's founder William Traver poured champagne while the staff gathered to toast this Downtown Seattle location where glass art had been elevated (literally and figuratively) for more than three decades.
The gallery is not closing but moving to brand-new new quarters less than two miles away. Its Downtown Seattle space was unique for offering two different exhibition environments. There was the interior gallery where light could be completely controlled to create dramatic installations, while the "exterior gallery," as it was called, featured massive windows overlooking the corner of First Avenue and Union, where work that thrived under strong illumination could be flooded with daylight. In 2017, William Traver told the Glass Quarterly Hot Sheet how he approached this space as "a stage for the arts." And today, in 2025, his daughter, Sarah, who has taken over from her father, is full of hope for the different theatrical possibilities the new location of Traver Gallery will unlock. In an extended telephone interview with Glass Quarterly, the younger Traver discussed the upcoming debut of the new waterfront Traver Gallery, which will be unveiled at an April 5th grand opening in West Canal Yards, a former seafood distribution facility at 1100 West Ewing Street that has been refashioned as an airy and high-ceilinged arts complex.
Glass Quarterly Hot Sheet: So how does it feel to clear out the space at Union and First, where so many important glass art exhibitions have taken place?
Sarah Traver: Definitely feeling very mixed emotions leaving the space where so much has happened, as you say. But we’d been at that location for 32 years, and it was just time for a change. Among other things, the city has changed so much, as has the nature of the gallery business, and we're trying to be responsive to that while we also remain responsible to our artists and to our collectors. We needed to find a new space that would provide the gallery with more flexibility and stability.
Glass: What were some of the deciding factors that made relocating after more than three decades in that space make sense?
Traver: Well, for starters, it gives us a lot more financial flexibility, and we’re changing the dynamic financially. Don't forget, we had been paying downtown commercial real estate prices, and even though Seattle is seeing high commercial vacancy rates, commercial rates haven’t fallen in line with that at all.
Then, because of the way the city has changed, the ownership of the building wanted the front doors locked because we weren't ground-floor retail. And so, if you were coming to the gallery you had to ring a buzzer. It just created a barrier to entry, which wasn’t as welcoming a feel as it used to be. I mean, we learned through the pandemic how to do business as a destination by working remotely and inviting clients to schedule appointments. From that experience we found that we were able to have a sustainable business without the walk-in foot traffic flow, which we lost in the pandemic. So by moving, what we're getting is a beautiful destination space with onsite secure parking, which is a huge bonus in Seattle.
Finally, the space we're moving into is part of a 7-acre waterfront property in a historic marine district. It's got a ton of unique Seattle character, and once you get down here, it just feels great to be here. We have the most beautiful light, the space is expansive and breezy with wide-open views.
Glass: What about the Downtown Seattle art scene, where there are monthly art walks when the galleries are all crowded?
Traver: I think it’s really different in Seattle than in places like New York. I mean there is definitely an audience for First Thursday, when all downtown galleries host openings. And you do see a nice group of people turn out for that, it is a wonderful community event. However, from the perspective of a commercial gallery, it's not an event that necessarily drives sales. That typically happens outside of those openings.
At our new location, we are definitely going to be asking our community to come to us. We are the anchor tenant, and we’re going to be alone down here for a little while until others move in. The space just has so much potential to be an arts hub, the way they built it out. Traver Gallery is in the retail core of the complex, in what had been a two-story cold-storage building. In the renovation, they created an atrium corridor space down the middle of that with 12 different retail spaces that look out onto that core atrium. And there are these big roll-up garage doors, which gives it this so much community potential and makes it a wonderful creative environment.
Glass: Are there any other tenants, and are they also creative businesses?
Traver: We are one of three tenants in the process of moving in, and we’re the only gallery. We're also the major tenant in terms of square footage. Other tenants include an architecture firm and a letterpress group that’s moved in already. You can tell that the owners are pushing to make it a place for makers and creative-based businesses, and I dream that there will be a few more galleries.
Glass: Will your design gallery, Vetri, also be moving, and will there be a dedicated space for it in the new location?
Traver: We decided we were going to move Vetri out of their retail space, too. At the old location, we had to ask people to knock on the door for entry, and we weren't getting the right dynamic in that area of town, so we’re pausing the retail programming for now. We will be having a series of pop-up events, though, at the new location. We’re pausing it for a year with the goal of hopefully finding a better retail venue for it, and definitely doing some feature popup exhibitions this year. We will do a George William Bell exhibition with a pop-up space for Vetri for the grand opening, and we will be keeping the staff.
Glass: How far exactly is the new Traver location from the former location of the Downtown Seattle gallery, and will you continue to have First Thursday openings?
Traver: It's about a mile and a half, or a 15-minute drive. We plan to shift to do first-Saturday openings, at least at first, with the idea that we'll respond to what works in the community. And one of the things is that not being a part of a set art walk will give us the flexibility in how we schedule our shows. If it makes more sense to do a six-week exhibition, we can do that more easily now.
Glass: Can you talk a bit about why you decided to maintain a gallery space when other galleries such as Heller in New York or Schantz Gallery in Massachusetts have recently shut down their retail spaces?
Traver: For me, being able to give an artist an exhibition and be able to cultivate that type of relationship, to help tell their story, having a space to tell their story has always been an essential aspect of that relationship. My father has always talked about having a gallery be a theater for art, and you can't do that without space.
Glass: Is that partly a function of the number of emerging artists you help cultivate?
Traver: Probably part of it is, yes; most of the artists we're working with aren't yet having museum shows regularly, and it's very important to the development of their career to have a space to exhibit a body of work--for the development of their work and career. I totally understand the nature of the business is changing, and a physical gallery space isn’t always necessary for the sales part of the work we do, but, if you think about the long term, it is. Because you need these artist to continue to develop, to see the trajectory of their work over time, and that really only happens with exhibitions.
Glass: What are your thoughts about how the glass art field is changing, with collectors in particular getting older and acquiring less than perhaps a decade or two ago? How does that impact your plans and vision for the future?
Traver: I think glass is at somewhat of an inflection point, as you see the Linos and Chihulys reach a point where they’re retiring, winding down, or becoming more museum-focused and historical. We’re waiting for the next group of artists to come up, and there are a good number of artists who are doing really compelling work. I personally want to be there to represent that work when the time comes to do so.
I also think there are a lot of artist who are at the midpoint in their career, and if they don’t give them the chance to develop their work and change, I’m not sure what that means for glass. An essential thing there be this continued dialogue, and within that, one of the things I’ve made it a priority in the gallery is to put glass in the context of other media--exhibiting glass artist alongside painters as well as artists working in wood, clay, and other materials.
Our focus continues to be materials-based work, but to continue to be responsive to what artists are doing around us. I see glass artists exploring materiality in different ways, not necessarily vessel-based design, but pushing the boundaries sculpturally, including other materials, and thinking about optics and color and light in a more abstract way. By moving to this new space, we are giving them the space to play and explore, and giving our audience a chance to experience this in new ways.
Glass: Will the new space be larger or smaller than the Union Street gallery?
Traver: We actually have the same amount of space, which is 3,000 square feet of exhibition and 2,000 square feet of storage. But I'm so excited to also have access to the outdoor space, which is on a 7-acre lot right on the water looking at the Ballard Bridge. There is so much potential for installation-based work, performance, events--I can’t wait to see people come up with.
Glass: Anything you can share about the upcoming grand opening on April 5th?
Traver: We'll be opening with Preston Singletary's exhibition "Raven Is as Raven Does," and also hosting an exhibition of the painter and sculptor Tori Karpenko's exhibition "Where Water Becomes Sky." Tori is a painter from the Pacific Northwest, primarily a painter, but also a wood sculptor. Tori salvaged wood from a 22-foot tall western red cedar that had burned in one of the major forest fires. He found it while he was out hiking, and got permission to extract the tree and its root structure. It's absolutely gorgeous, and we’re going to install it in the big atrium space. This is a monumental sculpture, and you will be able to look down into the core of the tree from the second level of that open space, just an example of what the new space allows for.
I love creating this conversation between two artists' work, creating these dynamics is an interesting part of looking at art and to present a conversation with other artists. As much as we can, we’ll do that."
IF YOU GO:
April 5, 2026
Grand Opening
Traver Gallery
1100 W Ewing Street
Seattle
Website