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Art and Artists go Main, bring traffic back to downtown Different circumstances may have brought Sabrina Tillman McGowens and Sheena Dawkins to the corner of South Main Street and West High Avenue in High Point, but it’s their hard work and Chanel Davis dedication that is keeping them rooted to the spot. Editor Here lately, that dedication is paying off in a big way. That one corner houses Dawkin’s Rhen. Ovations and McGowens’ Sabrina’s, and many other businesses under The Gallery on Main, run by both Dawkins and McGowens. “We are two separate entities that come together to run the Gallery on Main,” said McGowens, admitting that it has confused more than a handful of patrons. It wasn’t supposed to be as such but the duo, who had never met before this venture despite having shops in the city, made art out of the spackle they were left with. After being recruited by someone for an art collective that didn’t make good on her promise to the building’s owner, the duo decided to pick up the pieces and make a beautiful masterpiece out of a soiled canvas. “She basically left everyone hanging in this situation. No knowledge, no information on anything or this building. Once she was gone, because of the hours that were invested, we refused to let it go,” Dawkins, who was originally working to get her mother’s art in before signing on herself, said. “We had multiple meetings and negotiations, for months, with the owner to continue what was started but we changed it, molded it, into what fits us best. That’s as much credit as she gets. She got us in the door but that is it.” McGowens seconded that saying that The Gallery on Main now has a new identity thanks to herself and Dawkins. “The reasons behind what this was, how it was started, and what the owner of the business was looking for, I think that all of that was really great. That is what we all bought into and it was unfortunate for her to do what she did. At the same time, The Gallery on Main is different than what she created. Its identity is based on what Sheena and I put together. It hasn’t been easy to do that but I think we have created a whole different image,” she said. The COVID-19 pandemic has helped YES! WEEKLY
JULY 28 - AUGUST 3, 2021
The Gallery on Main is anchored by Rhen.Ovations and Sabrina’s
them craft this new image of a creative hub where everyone is welcome to not only buy wares but sell them, as well. The Gallery on Main originally opened in October 2019 but Sabrina’s didn’t move into the building until March 2020. When the restrictions were lifted, the duo opened the Gallery in June 2020 with a fresh approach. “Covid allowed us to turn this into us,” McGowens said. That image is one of a creative hub (Gallery on Main) anchored by Rhen. Ovations boutique and Sabrina’s Fine Art Gallery. Rhen.Ovations, located on the W. High Street entrance of 100 S. Main St., is run by Dawkins and focuses on interior
design and lifestyle art pieces. Sabrina’s, located at 112 S. Main St., is run by McGowens and focuses on fine art and printmaking. The Gallery on Main, also located at 100 S. Main St., is a creative hub for other artists, makers, and small businesses that both Dawkins and McGowens run. It’s a triptych made in heaven and one that seems to be working out just fine, for the owners, the patrons, and the artists that utilize them. “It was always my vision to have a creative hub. I needed to not only be able to sell my wares but I needed to be around other creatives and give other people the opportunity to grow their businesses, their talents, or whatever they have,” Dawkins
said. “My idea for this amount of space was that other people should be able to come in here and grow just as much as I’m trying to grow my own business.” Another sentiment shared by her business partner. “I think that’s why we (nodding towards Dawkins) work so well together because we are of the same mindset. I keep saying that music, art, design, fashion, and spoken word - they all go hand in hand. It’s all creative,” McGowens said. “That’s basically what we’re trying to do -is bring all forms of creativity here and we want all of us to grow. Why wouldn’t we?” Dawkins, a High Point native, said that the city needed a space like this and that is evident by the number of cars that fill the street every weekend and the number of patrons that fill the building. “We have nowhere to go that promotes this type of energy when it comes to the arts and the culture. I wanted something like this to come to and was like ‘if I want something like this I want to build it for other people too.’ That was always my agenda with this space,” she said. The duo explains that it is that energy that allows creatives to thrive off of and inspire each other. “We’re inspired by each other, the
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