ABOUT THIS
A little bit about THIS - THIS is a brick-and-mortar gallery located in Vancouver, BC. The gallery is located at 108 E Broadway (alley entrance) in Vancouver's Mount Pleasant neighbourhood. THIS Gallery is dedicated to the creation and exhibition of both commercial and non-commercial art.
MANDATE/MISSION
Our mandate is to support artists by providing exhibition space and opportunities to earn a living through the sale of their work. We believe that art is an ESSENTIAL part of our collective well-being—something we need not just to survive, but to thrive. We want artists to keep doing what they do best: bring inquisitiveness, play, beauty, introspection, and joy into the world.
We strive to curate and showcase exceptional contemporary art that inspires and enriches the community. We are passionately dedicated to supporting emerging and established artists, with a special emphasis on artists who are under-recognized and traditionally under-supported. By providing a dynamic space for creative expression we strive to amplify diverse voices and perspectives within the art world.
Through thoughtful curation and engaging exhibitions, we shed light on hidden talents, fostering a community that values and uplifts artists. Our commitment is to contribute to the cultural landscape, creating a platform for all artists to thrive and for art enthusiasts to discover unique and meaningful works.
We are NOT a 'pay-to-play' art gallery and fundamentally reject that model. The gallery is funded by a commission on art sales and by the gallery owner, Shannon Pawliw. As art sales are not guaranteed, we occasionally undertake fundraising initiatives.
THIS Gallery prides itself on its innovative and unconventional relationships with artists. Rather than imposing the restrictive long-term contracts that many commercial galleries use, THIS offers short-term contracts negotiated to the needs of each artist, individually. THIS typically offers a 50:50 commission for the duration of the artist’s exhibition (usually two weeks) and then the option for a 3-month online extension at a 30:70 commission. THIS Gallery continues to support its family of artists indefinitely through online promotion and event opportunities. This more informal arrangement allows greater freedom for the artist to seek other exhibition opportunities.
Artistic Director
Shannon Pawliw is a Vancouver-based artist, curator, and designer whose practice spans painting, conceptual installation, and socially engaged projects. She holds a BFA in Studio Art from Concordia University and has maintained an active creative practice alongside a career in graphic design for more than two decades.
Pawliw’s work is rooted in an ongoing curiosity about value, labour, identity, memory, and the systems that shape how we understand and experience art. Her projects often move between the personal and the collective, using humour, colour, repetition, participation, and everyday materials to examine larger cultural questions. Recent work has explored the undervaluing of artistic and domestic labour, aging and visibility, nostalgia, and the relationship between art and commerce.
In 2020, Pawliw founded THIS Gallery, an independent contemporary art gallery in Vancouver, where she serves as Artistic Director and curator. Her work with THIS extends her studio practice into community building, creating opportunities for artists while exploring more accessible and direct ways for audiences to encounter, participate in, and collect contemporary art.
Buy original art
Gallery Hours
Fridays: 12-6 pm
Saturdays: 12-5 pm
Sundays: 12-4 pm
All other days/times by appointment.
Watch Instagram for openings and special events.
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Want to support what we're doing? Any amount is appreciated.
THIS Gallery acknowledges that it is situated on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the Coast Salish peoples–Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations.
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