Seattle Design 100+
William Traver Gallery
The owner of galleries in downtown Seattle and Tacoma is opening a Pioneer Square space this year

When William Traver opened his first gallery in Belltown 30 years ago, the neighborhood was not yet teeming with boutiques and cafés. He represented his former instructors at Cornish College of the Arts who liked the underground feel of the neighborhood. Traver evinced the pioneer spirit in art as well as location. He produced the first shows of glass artists Lino Tagliapietra, Sonja Blomdahl and others, when few critics or collectors took glass art seriously. 

“The Northwest School [Callahan, Graves and co.] still dominated the regional aesthetic in 1977, but I was determined to show new and creative artists,” he remembers.

Exhibiting the first Pilchuck Glass Show paved an avant-garde avenue; today, the Northwest is the world center of the Studio Glass Movement. Traver continues to seek new artists, including glass sculptor Sean Albert and painter Alan Fully. He opened his Tacoma gallery to complement the nearby Museum of Glass Art and will open a space in Pioneer Square this spring. His role as an established gallery doesn’t exactly sit well with Traver.

“We are fortunate now to have the resources to publicize our artists worldwide through catalogs and other media,” he explains, “but no matter how established we become, I’m determined to be there for the artist first, to go with him to the edge and to let success take care of itself.”                  

William Traver Galleries
110 Union St., Ste. 200, (206) 587-6501 and 1821 E. Dock St., Ste. 100, Tacoma
(253) 383-3685