Women on South Main: Jackie Dives at The Petri Dish

Jackie Dives is the proprietor of The Petri Dish, located just north of Broadway at 2406 Main St.  She is one of a growing community of female business owners in the South Main - Mt Pleasant neighborhood, a role which she finds "empowering" and inspiring.  She's been open for about a year now, after deciding that she'd rather be working for herself in a field that she loves than working for someone else - even if the hours are long and it sometimes feels like "pure insanity".  The Petri Dish is an art gallery that also carries clothing, dolls, jewelry and greeting cards - all by emerging (mostly local) artists - including Jackie herself.  When I asked if she'd come up against any setbacks as a women entrepreneur, she said that she found more people were taken aback by her youth than by her gender.  Customers will often come into The Petri Dish and assume that she's just an employee.  Some of them are very surprised to learn that she actually runs the place!

One of her main reasons for choosing this type of business was to show her own work, while at the same time providing a venue to support other artists in the community.  She chose the South Main neighborhood for many different reasons - not only was the rent relatively affordable, she also lives in the area and found that it was becoming more and more interesting every day. In the time that she's been open the street north of Broadway has really come to life, with quite a few new businesses opening up in her building and elsewhere.  She describes this community as very close-knit - the business owners in the area are all on a first name basis, and will recommend other stores if their customer can't quite find what he or she is looking for.

Jackie selects which artists she'll carry based on her personal aesthetic preferences, combined with a sharp sense of practicality - price are always negotiated to fit within her customers' budgets.  She prefers to first view artists' work online, then call them in for an in-store presentation. Currently up in her gallery is 6x8 Plus Half a Pinn: a solo show featuring small whimsical artworks by Susanne Summersgill, as well as Grade 5: a group show by the Petri Dish's recently formed art collective.  Upcoming exhibits include a collection of Bill Murray paintings by Audra Ricketts (March 16th -April 1st) and an exhibition of collage and mixed media artworks by Jackie Dives (April 6th - 23rd).  On the first night of each new show Jackie hosts an opening reception at 8pm.  For more information on these artists or to signup for her mailing list, please visit Jackie's website at www.thepetridish.ca or her myspace page.

Coming soon to Beyond Robson: Interviews with more female entrepreneurs located on South Main, including Veronika of Lark 8th Ave, Najma of Maya, and Jackie O'Brien of Jonathan+ Olivia.

Photo courtesy of Matt Simpson.