The Moody Jones Gallery, a boutique art gallery located at 107b S Easton Rd, Glenside, came to life in 2016. For owner and founder (and longtime art collector) Adrian Moody, the gallery’s vision goes back decades.
“It’s been a lifelong journey journey for me. At around age 35, I started collecting. Thoughts to become a gallery owner began 20-some years ago. I started because I had been going to art shows and acquired a collection, and I realized it just made sense,” Adrian said. “It was a natural progression.”
Adrian’s wife, Robyn R. Jones, M.D., an obstetrician/gynecologist by trade and training, has been a motivating factor from Day One. Together they opened Art on 38, a Philly-based gallery, in August 2004 with an art-collecting partner. After a few years, their partner decided to go in a different direction, and Art on 38 closed its doors.
“What drove Robyn and I to open another gallery was my accountant and longtime friend who told ua that I needed to start unloading some of our collection,” he said. “So we opened this space in Glenside, and ultimately word got around. Artists that we’ve met and known over the years started contacting us, and before we knew it, we were having shows again.”
For Adrian, owning a gallery is more than a business. It’s a lifestyle.
“It gives me quiet solitude. I like the business of art, of selling art, of trying to get folks to understand why art is an asset that has value, especially the original works,” he said. “I don’t have any intentions of slowing down.”
During his art-collecting career, Adrian has served as a consultant for professional athletes interested in getting into the art game, including Rasheed Wallace, a Philly native and former NBA all-star, and Bonzi Wells, another NBA veteran whose career spanned a decade.
“As a result of my art business, I became acquainted with and sold works of art to a number of athletes. They have been in my space, and I’ve mentored them in an artistic sense. They would ask me for my opinion on these things, and I gave them my insight,” he said.
Adrian’s son, Nicholas Moody, played for the San Francisco 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks. His younger son, Dylan Moody, graduated from Abington Friends School, and now works in the creative department for the National Basketball Players Association.
“It’s funny. They used to say, ‘Dad and Mom you got too much art in the house. We have more art than furniture.’ Now they both have an appreciation for it. Dylan works with creative people, and he helped us design the interior space of the gallery.”
Like many small businesses in the area, the pandemic presented a new challenge, and the Moodys took that challenge head-on.
“There was some buzz prior to the pandemic. A news crew came out to the gallery, and the next thing I knew we were shut down. Post-pandemic business was a struggle initially, but my wife and I knew we had to reestablish ourselves. We chose to grind it out, the goal being that this is a lifelong pursuit. Our friends encouraged us. The buzz started to come back,” he said.
The building’s interior was renovated in October 2022, and the changes gave the Gallery a new look and feel. A successful November reopening proved that it could retain the success it had prior to the pandemic.
“We’ve had a number of shows ever since. It helps that we’ve been in this neighborhood for awhile. People know that we’re here,” Adrian said. “Robyn is very socially active in different organizations, and they come to the gallery space. She’s always involving herself.”
“Every Mother’s Day, we always have a ‘Phenomenal Women Show’ and that was a brainchild of Robyn’s,” Adrian said.
The Gallery is currently hosting an exhibit titled “Flashbacks,” which features the work of R.L. Washington. For more on the exhibit, you can click here.
For more on Glenside’s Moody Jones Gallery, you can visit their Facebook page and website. You can also check out this Business Spotlight, courtesy of Cheltenham Township: