Art Spirit Gallery's Blair Williams is 2025 Woman of Impact

COEUR d'ALENE — An impressive resume.

A visionary leader.

Boundless generosity.

A mosaic of strength, creativity, compassion and so much more.

These were among the comments of praise and respect used by Art Spirit Gallery manager Chelsea Cordova to describe Art Spirit Gallery owner Blair Williams, who was honored as the 2025 Woman of Impact during the 16th annual North Idaho Alliance's Onward and Upward Women's Conference at the Best Western Plus Coeur d'Alene Inn.

"Thank you all so very much," Williams said after accepting the microphone from 2024 Woman of Impact Kerri Thoreson, who shared Cordova's written comments before presenting the award.

"This was a huge surprise to hear these beautiful words from my friend, not just my gallery manager," Williams said.

With her 17-year-old daughter, Logan Hanson, by her side in a room filled with sparkling tiara-topped ladies, a gracious and grateful Williams said she was incredibly touched by the recognition.

"I go to work every day, that's how I look at it," Williams said. "I go to work every day. If there are problems to be solved, I try to solve them. If there are people that need to be connected in our community, I try to connect them. If there are problems outside of my gallery that I can fix, I try to see what I can do to get others involved.

"I just thought that's what we all did, and that's what I expect of you all," she said with a chuckle. "You get out of bed, you do the work, you don't just get stuck in what you're stuck in, and you figure a way out. And I have to say, allowing me the platform to say those words to you all today is sometimes what we need, because I forget that myself."

She said she recently felt stuck with all the moving parts in her own life, so she asked an elder to meet over coffee and said, "I just need you to listen through my tears as I lay these puzzle pieces out on the table to you; all these things are going on in my life have me truly overwhelmed right now. What do I do ... What would you do first?

"He looked at me and he shook his head and he goes, 'I don't know,' and I was like, 'Well, I guess then, if you don't know, my I don't know is OK!'" Williams said. "I want to remind you all of that. We don't always have the answers, and we're always just trying. If I could fix it all I'd fix it all, right away, but sometimes — always — being a good leader is being able to step up and say, 'I don't know.'"

The NIA Woman of Impact award recognizes women who demonstrate persistence, optimism, courage, adaptability and who inspire others on many levels.

Williams has owned the Art Spirit Gallery since 2017. She was appointed by the governor to the Idaho Commission on the Arts. She serves on the Idaho Humanities Council Board. She is an advisory board member for the University of Idaho College of Art and Architecture and she is the president of the Northwest Institute for Creative Placemaking, just to name a few of Williams' many roles in the community and beyond.

She's also a mom who makes her daughter darn proud.

"She has always been my biggest role model, since I was little kid," Logan said. "Not only the fact that she's in a wheelchair, but the fact that she pushes beyond the wheelchair and she doesn't make that her main focus. There's so much she capitalizes on, she's amazing at public speaking. Much of what I know today and the person I am is from her."

    Hayden Chamber CEO/President Andrea Fulks, left, and 2024 NIA Woman of Impact Kerri Thoreson bestow a beautiful bouquet to 2025 Woman of Impact Blair Williams as her daughter, Logan Hanson, enjoys the moment Wednesday during the Onward and Upward Women's Conference.
  

    From left, Kerri Thoreson, Blair Williams and Williams' daughter, Logan Hanson, share a smile Wednesday as Thoreson announces that Williams is the 2025 Woman of Impact.