Pod Contemporary Gallery

From 1987 - 2004 Helen Mears owned and operated Mecca - a dynamic clothing shop in the heart of Vancouver's vibrant Commercial Drive community. Mears worked with visual artists, clothing and jewelry designers promoting, curating and selling. As well, she created art herself, and attended the Visual Arts program at Emily Carr University of Art and Design from 1997 - 2004 before relocating to beautiful Salt Spring Island, BC.

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From her home island of SSI, here's an excerpt of the feature article, "Creekhouse refit spawns new look", by Elizabeth Nolan, published in The Gulf Islands Driftwood - 20/03/13

Next door at Pod Gallery, Helen Mears, a longtime curator of the ArtCraft stage exhibitions, will combine her experience with a return to her roots in fashion retail. Mears spent a year fighting breast cancer and took the time to think about what she really wanted to do with her life, and decided to return to a retail business where she could showcase whatever she liked without any constraints.

“I do like fashion, and I like accessories, and I like art, and I’m hoping this concept allows them to meld,” she said.

Mears intends to feature items that are mainly handmade and come from Salt Spring, Vancouver, B.C. or other parts of Canada first.

“I really want the hands to be noticed, and to offer things made in small batches,” she said.

Along with offering clothing and accessories, Pod’s opening exhibition will be Art on Paper, a group show featuring nine artists including Deon Venter, Michela Sorrentino and Barbra Edwards running April 12 to June 6. (April 12 is the shop’s intended soft opening date.) Mears is also building moveable displays that can be shifted or temporarily removed to provide space for functions. She is thinking about creating fundraisers for organizations she supports, such as the Wish Foundation for women on the Downtown East Side of Vancouver.

“I think business should be bigger than just buying and selling,” she explained.