In downtown Edmonds, sunlight spills through the windows of Hoadley Gallery West. Ceramics, paintings and sculptural objects line the walls inside like the ribs of a ship. At its center are several jewelry display cases. Each one is like a treasure chest, revealing shiny metals and finely crafted jewelry within.
Immediately to the left is a display of handcrafted glass vases and cups with handles that catch my eye. No two are identical. Each shows the subtle differences that distinguish handmade work from mass production. To the right are porcelain flower vases, standing in a row, finished with glazes that almost resemble bands of colored sand suspended in glass.
That emphasis on material and the visible presence of the maker runs throughout Hoadley Gallery West.
My Neighborhood News Group spoke with owner Leana Hoadley about her path to becoming a gallerist, which she described as winding but rooted in a lifelong connection to art.
“I’ve always known I wanted to work in the arts,” she said. “I come from a family of artists.”
Hoadley Gallery West builds on the foundation of the original Hoadley Gallery in Lenox, Massachusetts, founded more than 40 years ago by her aunt and uncle, Stephanie and Thomas Hoadley. While the two spaces are independently operated, Hoadley describes them as sharing the same DNA.
“It’s not a franchise,” she said. “But one has the DNA of the other.”
Hoadley grew up between the East Coast and Costa Rica before studying at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Initially, she planned to become a painter, following in her family’s footsteps. “[It was] from a deep love of art — all art — but I never really found my voice as an artist. [Instead] I championed the arts,” she said.
After years of working in design, including as a creative director for an AI company, Hoadley said a 2023 layoff prompted a whole reassessment.
“I really thought I had sort of lost my way a little bit. I lost my identity. And I really had to think about, what is it that I’m doing?” she said. “This idea of opening a gallery in Edmonds just kept coming back.”
Through word of mouth, she found a space on Main Street. “It feels like a dream come true,” she said.
Hoadley recalled flying to Massachusetts several times to consult with her aunt and uncle about opening a gallery, seeking their advice on the best way to approach it.
The two galleries are separate yet share a lineage, she said, with hers set to carry on the family business as theirs winds down.
“And so my aunt and uncle named mine Hoadley Gallery West. And thus, it was born. That’s how I came to be a gallerist.”
Among some of the most striking works in the gallery are porcelain vessels by her uncle, Thomas Hoadley, created using the ancient Japanese Nerikomi technique. Patterns emerge from the colored clay itself, rather than from surface decoration.
His work is held in the collections of institutions including the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, as well as the White House Craft Collection.
Hoadley described her uncle as both an artistic influence and a foundational presence in the gallery, adding that craftsmanship resonates more deeply in a digital age.
Having previously worked in digital spaces, designing for tech companies in Seattle and California, Hoadley said that with the advent of AI, handmade work carries new weight.
“The idea of something that is handmade –- things where you can feel the fingertips of the maker –- have become so much more valuable,” she said.
Unlike a traditional rotating exhibition space, Hoadley describes the gallery as more of a boutique gallery. New work arrives regularly, but the overall curation remains consistent rather than changing month to month.
Right now, she’s especially excited about this month’s upcoming Edmonds Art Walk on Thursday, May 21, featuring a trunk show by Chikahisa Studio.
Washington-based jeweler Anne Chikahisa founded her line after going through a difficult period in her life. Hoadley added that the artist was looking for a piece of jewelry to commemorate coming out of that experience but couldn’t find anything that felt meaningful.
“It didn’t seem to have the exact [thing] I was talking about, the fingerprints of the maker,” Hoadley said. “It was all very perfect. And she didn’t feel perfect. She felt like she wanted something that represented the making, something imperfect.”
From that Chikahisa created a line of jewelry that emphasizes that tactile, handmade quality, describing pieces that feel like “she’s taken hunks of silver and handcrafted them into these gorgeous rings and amulets and earrings that really feel like [they’re] made from clay.”
While the Edmonds gallery shares similarities with its East Coast counterpart, differences emerge in how each space responds to its audience.
“The curation and the style and the artists are shared between the two galleries,” she said. At the same time, she noted that “the two audiences are so different,” which shapes what is shown in each space. In some cases, both galleries represent the same artist but carry different variations of their work.
Despite those differences, Hoadley said both spaces remain grounded in the same guiding principles: a focus on craftsmanship and material.
Each object carries a distinct personality, inviting visual sensory engagement and a sense of human connection.
Hoadley Gallery West is on 419 Main St. in Edmonds and is open this Mother’s Day weekend. Hours are noon-6:30 p.m. Tuesday to Sunday, or by appointment.
Based in Edmonds, Nahline Gouin is a freelance writer, ceramicist and arts advocate with experience in art museums and performing arts centers. She continues to create with clay, homeschool her son and write as a creative practice.
