Huntington’s new art gallery is taking the town, and the art world, by storm.
By Carter Seaton
HQ 119 | AUTUMN 2022
Huntington’s relatively new Sloane Square Gallery at 611 14th Street West is unlike any other art gallery you’ve ever visited. No one shushes you when you enter; instead, one of the owners, usually designer Jimmy Hobbs, greets you warmly and offers you candy from the bowl near the front door. Fresh flowers grace the room. Display pedestals feature unique purses. Mannequins sport clothing designed to coordinate with the art. Vintage breakfronts hold glassware or vintage jewelry. Nearby, someone may be playing the gallery’s grand piano. Cozy seating groups scattered throughout the room entice you to sit, study the magnificent paintings by the other owner, artist Jamie Sloane, and consider how they might fit into your home. Because Sloane’s bold and colorful work spans a wide variety of styles from realism to impressionism to modernism to pointillism, his paintings can enhance many home decors.
The gallery’s business card carries the phrase, “Art as Lifestyle.” That perfectly sums up the owners’ joint philosophy, which sparked the 13-year-old dream that came true with their grand opening on July 1, 2021.
“Our inspiration came from wanting our own platform to inspire other people,” said Sloane, a Huntington native who spent much of his life in Columbus, Ohio, before returning home. He started his career as a music composer, but 15 years ago put that pursuit on hold to paint. “I think I was entertaining the idea of a gallery from the time I began to paint.”
However, the fledgling artist didn’t feel confident about selling his work until he met Hobbs.
“He saw all my artwork and thought I was a collector. When he learned I had painted all of them, he told me he could sell them,” Sloane recalled.
Hobbs then introduced Sloane to the late Mark Bailey, who was known for discovering good art. Bailey soon introduced Sloane to art patron and collector Jack Bourdelais, who bought everything in Sloane’s collection, including his sketch books.
“Three years later, I had my first solo exhibit at the Huntington Museum of Art. It was a dream come true,” Sloane said.
Instead of pursuing other museums or galleries in which to exhibit, the pair began to envision having their own space where they could control the surroundings and how the paintings were displayed.
Today, Sloane’s paintings and other works of art sell almost as soon as he completes them. His popularity in the art world has spread quickly due in part to an exhibit entitled Jamie Sloane: The Visiteur Series Presented by Jack and Angie Bourdelais, which was the focus of a documentary on PBS.
Hobbs, whose mother brought him to 14th Street West to shop when he was 11 years old, knew immediately that the popular street was the perfect spot for their gallery.
“I’ve always thought it had the most amazing potential to be an arts and antiques district,” Hobbs said. “It’s been a phenomenal area that has truly come together in the last year since we’ve been here.”
For their grand opening, people lined up on both sides of the sidewalk, in a drizzling rain, to get a glimpse of the new art gallery. What’s more, every piece of art in the gallery was sold that day.
Born in Logan, West Virginia, Hobbs is an artist in his own right. He curates everything in the gallery — the jewelry, furniture, glassware, pottery, lamps and rugs.
“He’s got a really good eye, so he doesn’t bring in anything that doesn’t make sense,” said Sloane.
To find all these treasures, Hobbs travels to Louisville, Lexington, Cleveland, Columbus or wherever he thinks he can find just the right piece to complete a show. He said it sometimes takes months to bring everything together. Hobbs, who has been in the customer service business for 35 years, said he finds helping customers to be the most satisfying part of his work.
Although the furniture and furnishings are vintage, each piece has been refurbished and repaired and is ready to place in your home. Beyond carrying a full line of curated vintage furniture, Hobbs also has begun to design furniture and some jewelry. With inspiration from his paintings, Sloane designs a lot of the clothing, tennis shoes and purses, which are then handcrafted in Paris, in London or by area artisans like River City Leather.
While Sloane thinks of his paintings as a product, Hobbs knows the best way to sell them is to put them in a setting that allows prospective buyers to imagine the pieces in their homes. The gallery’s hanging system is deliberately set at an 8-foot ceiling height because that’s the typical height of most rooms in homes. Hobbs will take a work of art to a potential customer’s home to show them how it will fit into their décor.
The gallery is the result of everything the couple wanted to happen, and more.
“Jimmy had the vision for the gallery and for it to be here,” Sloane explained. “I love being here because the people who walk in every day say they are inspired, and that the gallery gives them hope. That’s worth more than … I love that. I take what they say and it, in turn, inspires me.”
“Our neighbors have been phenomenal to us in the 14 months we’ve been open,” said Hobbs.
The gallery opens a new show with works by Sloane and corresponding curated room settings by Hobbs every three months. Their next show, featuring Sloane’s paintings of world-famous artists, opens December 1.
Go and be inspired.
