Hilde's Gallery relocating, committing to Bellevue

Tyler Hildebrand is in the process of moving Hilde's Gallery from his current space at 306 Fairfield Avenue in Bellevue to a rehabilitated building at 400 Fairfield Avenue, which should be completed by late March.

The new space is similar in size to his current gallery space, but offers several notable improvements.

"The difference is the 16-foot-high ceilings, and the fact that I will be able to own the building as opposed to renting, and live above my shop," Hildebrand says.

Hildebrand says that the building will have to be entirely gutted, a job that he plans to undertake himself – with a little help from his friends.

"This building was a tanning bed years ago," he says.  "It looked like it had been abandoned in the night, with the tanning beds still tucked in their rooms and posters of nicely tanned men and woman with eighties haircuts decorating the walls."

The City of Bellevue is helping out with restoration of the historic façade.

"Over many years and different business the storefront façade has been bricked up, leaving two little windows," Hildebrand says.  "The city was nice enough to give me grant money to fix up the exterior, and return the storefront to its original large windows."

Bellevue Renaissance has been helpful as well.

"Bellevue Renaissance works together to help every business on the Avenue," Hildebrand says.  "They know what direction they want the city to go in and they do everything they can to make that happen."

Since locating on Fairfield Avenue in 2007, Hildebrand has noticed strong support for custom artworks in the city.

"The new condos and residents moving in to Bellevue have been a great contributor to the arts," he says.  "The kind of shops and restaurants here bring down artsy kinds of people."

Hildebrand says that he looked throughout the region for a new building, but kept being drawn back to Bellevue.

"There's a hometown charm here that is hard to find as abundant in other places," he says.

Writer: Kevin LeMaster
Source: Tyler Hildebrand, Hilde's Gallery
Photography by Scott Beseler