The Art Makes the Space Holy: Mary Hoffman and the Baldwin Avenue Gallery Bring Contemporary Art to the Heart of Sierra Madre

By Elizabeth Converse

The Sierra Madre Art Walk returns on June 19 from 4 to 8 p.m., and few businesses in town have more at stake — or more to celebrate — than the Baldwin Avenue Gallery on North Baldwin Avenue. But the gallery’s story did not begin with a business plan. It began with a drive through a small town, a man’s dying mother, and a dream that once seemed as distant as the lottery.

Mary Hoffman first saw Sierra Madre approximately twenty years ago, when she came to visit her then-boyfriend Mike, who had moved from Central California to care for his ailing mother. “I fell in love,” she says simply. “In an instant, I knew this is where I wanted to lay roots.” She loved its safety, its sense of community, its rare combination of small-town warmth and proximity to the cultural pulse of Los Angeles. She and Mike married, settled here, and raised two children.

For years, the gallery existed only as a dream — the kind, Mary says, that felt “like a lottery win.” Mike had painted since high school, a closet artist whose talent his mother recognized and championed. One of her dying wishes was that he pursue his art seriously. “She said, you have a real talent, and you really need to — don’t live your life without doing that.” After she passed, Mike began producing in earnest. He approached galleries in West Los Angeles and found them dismissive, even predatory — some demanding commissions as high as seventy or eighty percent. It was sobering, and it set him back.

Then COVID arrived and reset everything. “It made everybody reassess,” Mary says. They talked about moving to Oregon, starting a farm. Then Mike said: what about an art gallery? Mary had a background in retail and spa management, a degree in fashion design and merchandising, and a lifelong love of art. More importantly, she had spent years quietly promoting Mike’s work — building his website, sending out mailers, learning the mechanics of visibility. “Instead of going all in on somebody else,” she says, “we could go all in on ourselves.”

The Baldwin Art Gallery — the BAG, as locals know it — opened its doors and has now been a fixture of the community for nearly five years. It is going into its fifth year this spring, a milestone that in the arts world, particularly for a gallery in a small mountain town selling what Mary candidly calls “luxury items,” represents something real.

A Conversation with Mary Hoffman

How would you describe what the Baldwin Avenue Gallery specializes in?

We chose to go more contemporary — abstract, pop, that lane. But as the gallery has morphed over the years, we’ve shown figurative work, we’ve shown across the board. We didn’t want to pigeonhole ourselves. I think our gallery is fluid. It’s more about the particular artist and their vision than it is about a fixed aesthetic. Do we believe in this artist? Is there a connection? How do we feel about their work? That’s really what drives our choices.

You’ve described the gallery as a creative hub. Can you say more about that?

We’re more than a gallery in the traditional sense. We’ve hosted poetry readings, spoken word events, book signings — everything in the creative realm. How many places hold essentially free parties for the town, once or twice every two months? We want to encompass all of it. And we’re not exclusive. We’re open. You never know what you’re getting when you walk in here.

Do you feel supported by the Sierra Madre community?

Very much so. From before we even opened the doors, there was love and support for the gallery. We made so many new friends. That said, we built knowing that the bulk of sales would probably come from elsewhere — Glendale, Santa Monica, Laguna. Art is a purchase, not a twenty-dollar T-shirt. But the town has allowed us to become and to grow. It’s a great place to plant your trees.

What would you like people to know about the gallery that they might not know?

A few things. First, we are not a museum. People still come in and ask if they need to pay admission. The answer is absolutely not. Come in, sit down, read a book if you want. We’ve had people come in just because they’re having a bad day and they want to be with art. This space is for them. Second, I don’t want to be a hidden gem. I don’t aspire to that. I want everyone to know we’re here. And third — affordability. We have original, one-of-a-kind pieces starting at one hundred dollars. If someone came in on our first day and was frightened off by a ten-thousand-dollar painting, I want them to know that is not the whole story. We also work with our artists on pricing, and we offer layaway. We want people who love art to own it.

You’ve shown over a hundred artists in five years. How do you think about your relationship with the artists themselves?

The artists are everything. We always say, once you’re in the BAG, you’re part of the family. These are just walls. We just have an empty space without the art. It is the art that makes the space holy — that makes it a church. It gives it emotion and feeling. We are privileged to provide walls, to give artists who need support a space and a voice. That’s what gives me the most joy.

Tell us about the 100 Under 500 exhibition coming in May.

One hundred artists — many of them local, some alumni who have shown here before, and some very well-established artists who have never been in the gallery — all coming together for one show where everything is under five hundred dollars. Pieces at fifty, a hundred, two hundred, up to five hundred. It’s an opportunity for people to start collecting, to get the bug, to own something original for the first time. And it’s an opportunity to own genuinely fine art by stellar artists at a price point they would never normally offer. Everything from collages to assemblage, figurative painting, pop, abstracts, photography — across the board. I think it is going to be the show of all shows we’ve had.

What is your dream for the gallery? Where do you see yourself in five years?

Mike and I share the overriding dream: to keep this space, always, for as long as we’re here. To keep providing art, poetry, all things creative, to this community. We differ a little — he’s the artist, focused on growing his own name and body of work. I have a larger vision for the gallery itself. But we’re not going anywhere. Sierra Madre is home. People tell us we’d do so much better on the West Side. We don’t want to be on the West Side.

My bigger dream? Two or three more art galleries opening in this town. There are so many creative, visionary people here. If we could build this into a destination — a place people drive to for art the way they drive to Laguna or Cambria — that would benefit all of us. That’s the dream I’m working toward.

The Sierra Madre Art Walk on June 19 will bring artists directly into the businesses of the town, and the Baldwin Art Gallery will be among the most vibrant stops on the route. The gallery is located at 12 North Baldwin Avenue. The 100 Under 500 exhibition opens in May. Both are free and open to all.

Mary Hoffman, Owner

The Baldwin Avenue Gallery

12 North Baldwin Avenue, Sierra Madre, CA