Jim Hartley
Owner/Co-founder
Born in New York and raised in Florida, Jim initially studied electrical engineering at university, though he soon realized his heart wasn’t in the field. He left college and moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 1960s to accept a position with a telecommunications company. Jim’s work ethic and natural rapport with people quickly moved him into the sales and marketing department, where his technical background merged seamlessly with his outgoing nature.
As Jim advanced into a senior executive role, the company expanded into the Middle East and tapped him to lead the initiative as Managing Director, Middle East. He spent a year in Tehran opening and operating a sales and marketing office serving territories from Turkey to Burma. During a return visit to California, he met and married Luz Maria, an artist who had emigrated from Chile—his first meaningful exposure to the world of art.
Jim, his wife, and their three children returned to Iran in 1977. However, as the Iranian Revolution grew imminent, he moved his family back to the United States. He then returned alone to Tehran to shut down company operations and soon found himself swept up in the escalating turmoil.
He spent his final nights in Iran at the American Embassy before being evacuated with others on the last flight out of Tehran, an event later chronicled in the book On the Wings of Eagles.
After reuniting with his family in California, Jim reassessed how he wanted to apply his talents. Still captivated by art, and greatly influenced by his wife, and muse, Luz Maria, they opened a school of art together. See Luz's career illustrated HERE. Once that was well underway, Jim joined a major downtown San Francisco art gallery to help develop its corporate art strategy and outreach. He quickly rose to the position of gallery director, a role he held until leaving in 1983 to co-found SFAE.
Melissa (Buckner) DeLuna
Senior Art Consultant/Special Projects & Web Coordinator
Raised in a family that valued both creative expression and analytical thinking, Melissa formed an early appreciation for both art and science. Her father—a graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (NYC) who later became a computer scientist and enterprise business architect—embodied that blend and inspired her interdisciplinary outlook.
Originally from Massachusetts, Melissa spent six years of her childhood in Switzerland, where she and her family traveled throughout Europe, learned some French, and absorbed the deep respect for beauty and history that defines much of European culture. That experience also gave her an outsider’s perspective on the global impact of distinctly American creativity—through the birth of MTV and the worldwide success of films like Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T., and Flashdance.
She attended the University of Rochester in New York, initially pursuing neuroscience before discovering a passion for the arts through an introductory Art History course. She went on to study Photography, Film, and Media Studies, a curriculum that uniquely prepared her for a career at a gallery devoted to elevating commercial and popular imagery to the realm of fine art.
After moving to San Francisco, Melissa joined SFAE in 2006 as an Art Consultant. Over time, her role expanded to include exhibition coordination, marketing, and digital management. Today, as Senior Art Consultant, Special Projects & Web Coordinator, she combines her passion for art with her talent for organization and strategy—serving collectors, overseeing the gallery’s data and online presence, and helping shape SFAE’s continued evolution in the art world.
-DeLuna)
Anna Hartley
SENIOR ART CONSULTANT
Anna joined the gallery full-time in 2012, but she has been part of San Francisco Art Exchange LLC since childhood—she is the daughter of co-founder Jim Hartley. She grew up deeply influenced by the music, art, and the gallery’s many exhibitions featuring world-famous artists, musicians, and cultural icons. Her mother, Luz Maria Hartley, is also an accomplished oil painter and gallerist, adding even more depth to Anna’s lifelong connection with the arts. In many ways, she has been surrounded by this legacy from the day she was born.
One of Anna’s favorite early memories involves convincing her dad to let her skip a day of ninth grade because Axl Rose of Guns N’ Roses was scheduled to visit the gallery. She waited excitedly all day, only for Axl’s plans to change at the last minute. When he rescheduled for the following day, Jim—knowing another cancellation was possible—refused to let her miss a second day of school. Naturally, Axl showed up, and Anna has never fully forgiven him. :)
Shaped by her lifelong immersion in the SFAE world, Anna has become a highly successful representative of the gallery’s artists. She holds the record for the highest price achieved by the gallery for a single work of art: the $1.85 million sale of Gerald Scarfe’s original painting for the movie poster of Pink Floyd: The Wall. She loves hearing the stories shared by the thousands of visitors she has met over the years—and equally loves sharing the story of the gallery itself.
Darryl Stapleton
SENIOR ART CONSULTANT
Originally from Calgary, Darryl has spent much of his life in San Francisco. A musician and avid record collector, he truly lives and breathes rock ’n’ roll. He began attending SFAE openings in the early 2000s and actually became one of the gallery's collectors in 2006.
Thrilled at the opportunity to immerse himself fully in the world of rock ’n’ roll and pop-culture art, Darryl joined the gallery as an art consultant in 2014. His personal experience and deep knowledge of the genre allow him to connect with collectors in a uniquely authentic way—in short, he gets it.
“Working at SFAE has given me the chance not only to represent, but to rub shoulders with, some of my lifelong idols, including Graham Nash, Grace Slick, and Pattie Boyd. It has also been such a rush to work with the legendary photographers who created the album-cover images I grew up with—Mick Rock, Terry O’Neill, Lynn Goldsmith, Ethan Russell, and many more.”
Matthew Ely
Senior Art Consultant
Originally from Massachusetts, Matthew began playing guitar at 13 and quickly developed a lifelong devotion to songwriting, performance, and music history. That passion eventually brought him to San Francisco while touring with a band.
He studied Jazz Performance at UMass Amherst, an experience that deepened his interest in the visual and cultural histories surrounding the music he loved. Matthew has always been drawn to the photographs that shaped popular culture as powerfully as the recordings themselves - especially rare, behind-the-scenes images.
That sensibility led him to the gallery, where he has worked as a Consultant since 2015. He brings a musician’s ear, a researcher’s curiosity, and a collector’s instinct to helping clients find the pieces that resonate most.
Matthew continues to write, record, and perform while working with the gallery.
Marcie Weintstein
SENIOR ART CONSULTANT
Originally from Los Angeles, Marcie joined the gallery part-time in 2001 and has maintained an ongoing presence ever since. With her lifelong passion for fine art and design—combined with a love of rock ’n’ roll—destiny called when she discovered SFAE.
During her years with the gallery, she has witnessed unforgettable moments: intimate live performances by Brian Wilson and Graham Nash; a remote video reception with former Rolling Stones bassist and photographer Bill Wyman; Pattie Boyd—rock muse, photographer, and author—at her debut gallery exhibition; and meeting Rolling Stones guitarist and visual artist Ronnie Wood in person.
“Best of all is meeting so many great photographers and artists! Sharing their incredible stories and iconic images—while helping fellow music lovers build treasured collections—is fantastic!”