As a teenager, Ashley Hale unintentionally fell into teaching. Twenty years later, she has gone into business teaching art in the heart of downtown Snoqualmie.
Her art center ASH Fine Arts had a grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony Oct. 26. Hale formally started the business in 2022 in a back room of the Art Gallery of SnoValley, a space it quickly outgrew. In March, she signed a lease for a studio directly above the gallery. The second-floor room on Railroad Avenue can fit about 12 students — 14 has been her max — and hosts a variety of classes and workshops. Hale offers private art classes, weekly group classes for different age ranges, camps and adult workshops.
This progression has been a long time coming for Hale, who taught at several other art centers around King County before going into business for herself.
“I decided I wanted to work for myself, and that I had the talent and people had the desire to invest in something like this,” she said, noting that her students’ parents have been very supportive.
“Their parents really inspired me and believed in me more than probably I believed in myself,” she said.
Hale’s first encounter with teaching was as a 15-year-old camp counselor. Her love for kids stuck in the back of her mind when she went to Western Washington University to get her bachelor of fine arts degree. After graduating in 2011, Hale moved home to Sammamish and took a job at an arts academy in Issaquah. When she moved on from that job, five kids went with her and have been taking her classes since.
Lily van Gemert started taking classes from Hale when she was about 4 years old and is now a senior in high school. Lily’s mom, Auryel van Gemert, said Hale has become a dear family friend. Hale instills great art skill in her students and supports them through all the stages of growing up, she said.
“They have an adult who they love and admire so much, who is so willing to just be there with them and not be a parent … and still have this position of keeping them safe and cared for,” Auryel said. “Just to see how the kids interact with her and react to her is amazing.”
Hale said school didn’t come easy to her, but art did, and her experience helps her connect with kids who have different learning styles.
“It actually makes me stronger as a teacher, because I’m able to … work with so many different brains at once that I’m able to really engage with every personality and every child,” she said.
Hale said she wants to provide a safe space for her students where they’re allowed to make mistakes. There are four rules she asks her students to follow: respect the materials, respect your neighbors, respect the teacher and, most importantly, respect yourself — something she is learning, too.
“As long as you respect yourself and you give yourself grace and love and support, you can do anything,” Hale said. “It’s almost been like a journey for me, saying that to them and believing it [myself].”
In addition to running her art center, Hale is the art teacher for North Bend Elementary, where she teaches once a week, and was recently sworn in as a member of the Snoqualmie Arts Commission. She’s also a showing artist at the Art Gallery of SnoValley, Columbia City Gallery and Side Rail Collective in Georgetown.
When she started ASH Fine Arts, Hale said she promised herself she would devote at least 25% of her time to her own art practice — something she said benefits both her and her students.
“That’s self-satisfying stuff, and I ultimately want to be known as an artist,” she said. “But also … going through all of this is something that’s really exciting to share with the kids. I like to bring the real world practice to the kids as well and inspire them that it’s possible.”
The front door of ASH Fine Arts, adorned with a neon sign and photos of classes. (Grace Gorenflo/Valley Record)