A Chihuly work in the back room of Traver Tacoma, which will close its doors on June 1st.
Seizing an opportunity to break a lease, the Traver Gallery has announced that it will be closing its location adjacent to the Museum of Glass in Tacoma on June 1st, ending an experiment in a satellite exhibition space that began in 2003. “Our nine years in the South Sound have been a wonderful and enriching experience for us,” Sarah and William Traver, daughter and father of the eponymous gallery, said in a written announcement. “We’ve hosted more than 100 great exhibitions, had fabulous parties, have made many great friends, and have had the opportunity to be part of amazing things here”
In a telephone conversation with the GLASS Quarterly Hot Sheet, Sarah Traver said that the decision was prompted by a slower economic recovery in the Tacoma area than in Seattle, where business has been brisk in 2012. For example, the recent exhibition of Preston Singletary‘s work (entitled “Confluence”) at the Seattle location was a sell-out show. Sales in Tacoma, in contrast have remained slow. Managing two locations more than 30 miles apart was another issue. “It’s an awkward distance. It’s close, but not close enough,” said Sarah. We were relying heavily on people outside of the Tacoma community to support us. You’re asking people from Bellingham, Olympia, Seattle to come for these events, and it’s an hour drive or more from any of those places. So you’re limited when you’re doing things as to how many people you can get.”
The relationship between Traver Gallery and the Museum of Glass will remain strong, said Sarah. “Our relationship with the museum has been a fabulous and symbiotic one, we’ve often tried to partner with them thought the years, coincide exhibitions with visiting artists. It’s always been really positive. I think our proximity to the museum helped us with sales and generating activity to a certain extent. The sales we did see in Tacoma were due to this art culture coming together there, which includes the Museum of Glass, the Tacoma Museum of Art, and, of course, the Chihuly Bridge of Glass.