COLUMN: First Friday features first-ever art show at 830 High

Among the great things to enjoy this evening during August’s First Friday downtown is the first-ever art show opening at 830 High.

There, three artists, Rudy Mendes, Anna Richards and Erin Hawkins are featured in the 830 High St. space that’s not so much a gallery as a business center with office and cooperative workspaces run by long-time Macon landscape architect Wimberly Treadwell.

Seeing any of the three artists’ work is a treat, all three together being thrice the treat, but taken as a whole the show is a parable of threads of community that are happily weaving together to help grow Macon’s creative renaissance.

First, about 830 High. The location was once home to Bibb Printing Co. and instead of the legendary facility falling into ruins Treadwell has turned it into an office for her successful, and one could say artful, landscape architectural business that’s beautified Middle Georgia for 30 years. Only needing so much space herself, she turned the site’s nooks and crannies into office space for others and part of it into cooperative space for those not needing or able to afford their own brick and mortar spot.

Friendly serendipity plays a key part among Macon creatives and the community built among them and their patrons. The opening at 830 High is an example. Aside from their art, each is involved in the wider community in various ways professionally and as volunteers. Mendes’ and Richards’ “day-jobs” with Bike Walk Macon and the Knight Foundation respectively mean they’re at offices at 830 High. Hawkins uses the cooperative area to meet clients and do the business-ey commerce things her graphic design and artwork require.

Maybe around the communal coffee maker or rubbing elbows otherwise, the idea rose to use the facilities’ plenteous, empty walls to show art. That’s something Treadwell envisioned from the beginning.

But 830 High isn’t a gallery proper because, even though new shows are planned on a quarterly basis, unlike full-time galleries 830 High’s first clients are those renting work, conference or other space. Doors have to be secured as a rule and can’t be left open daily. But there’s a workaround.

“It’s mainly during show openings people can freely come see the art but even though our doors are routinely locked during the day people can arrange for an artist to show them in or contact me and we can make a way for them to get in,” Treadwell said. “My office is in the building but my front door is next-door to the coop spaces.”

Treadwell is thrilled at what’s transpiring and how it’s furthering Macon’s art experience, further building community and, of course, enhancing the site’s classic interior brick walls.

Now on to the artists.

Like his two show cohorts, Mendes is well known around town and beyond, he for his painting, work with fabrics, ceramics and multi-media creations. Have you been to Mercer’s Hawkins Arena and liked the bear? A fan tells me it’s his. Mendes has an arts degree from Howard University and studied welding at Central Georgia Technical College. He’s taught workshops and exhibited throughout the Mid-Atlantic region showing locally at Macon Arts Alliance, the Tubman Museum and the Museum of Arts and Sciences. He’s a Macon Arts Cultural Award winner and the education program coordinator for Bike Walk Macon.

“The 830 High show is the kind of thing we need,” he said about the show and 830 High’s approach. “There needs to be more places artists can show and sell their work whether it’s a traditional gallery or non-traditional space like this. That will really help.”

Mendes is also dedicated to helping other artists, as indicated by comments by local folk artist Rhonda “Sunshine” Miller who said, “He taught me to find me in art and not someone else.”

As far as his own art, he draws inspiration from graffiti/street art and hip hop music and is motivated by the people and things he sees around him. He said motivation often comes from street scenes and people, such as those suffering homelessness and the realization of their value and the difficulties they face.

“If you can compose and arrange lines and colors and shapes through abstraction and create a feeling or emotion people can see and feel from it, that’s where the magic happens,” he said. “I want my work to express that.”

Anna Richards has created a series of paintings each summer since 2017; her latest is in the 830 High show.

“This current series of abstract work is titled ‘Sound and Vision’ and is a collection of paintings inspired by my travels over the past year and the connections that occur when experiencing new places,” she said. “I pick up on light, sound and landscape – both natural and artificial. All of these elements come together and trigger memories, feelings and my imagination. I love capturing these visceral reactions and experiences either with photo, video or audio and then translating them into another medium. This translation can often look chaotic but I love processing through painting and making something beautiful from all the noise.”

From Nashville, she’s been in Macon and involved in supporting others in the art scene since 2015. She served as gallery assistant at Macon Arts Alliance before taking the program assistant role at the Knight Foundation. She’s hosted artist conversations through On The Table Macon and created the Macon Artists Group, co-founded Creative Conversations and served on the Steering Committee for the Macon Cultural Master Plan. She’ll graduate in 2023 as a non-traditional student from Wesleyan College with a degree in studio art.

No doubt, you’ve seen Hawkins’ work even if you’ve never set foot in a gallery. You’ve likely even driven over it. Hawkins, or Mama Hawk Draws, her professional designation, designed and led the execution of the river mural flowing literally on Cherry Street featuring the musical notation of Little Richard’s “Southern Child.” She is a designer-artist-muralist working on everything from stickers to T-shirts to walls and yes, streets. She serves individuals, families, businesses, organizations and virtually anyone wanting to add her considerable design skills to their — whatever.



After years as a corporate art director, she left to pursue her own business and passion in graphic design and hand lettering. She said she believes in the importance of community and supporting other women small-business owners and is co-founder of Creative Conversations and serves other roles community-wide such as being on the board for Macon Periods Easier. She loves exposing kids to art and showing them how to use it to impact their lives and society. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in graphic design from James Madison University.

“My paintings (for the show) include images of nature – such as leaves, flowers and rainbows – using many layers of paint and other media to explore the complexity of self-doubt and imposter syndrome. But these paintings bring optimism and whimsy to a room, evoking good vibes through the use of bright colors so that the subjects poke through the paint, representing how we must persevere through and grow from hard experiences.”

Hawkins said the self-doubt and imposter syndrome aspects are as much a part of the process as the finished work. “I see it in the mess that first goes on the canvas and how it slowly gets covered over, redone and eventually works its way into a finished piece.”

The 830 High show is free and runs today from 5-8 p.m. Snacks and drinks will be on hand. As at any show or opening - and maybe especially this one - while there’s value in seeing the art there’s added value in meeting and talking with the artists and other art community members. Plus, there’s the opportunity to support their work and take real art home as well as find out more about 830 High itself.

More information can be found at www.830high.com, www.wimberlytreadwell.com, www.annarichardsart.com and www.mamahawkdraws.com. Mendes can be found by searching Diane Rudy Mendes on Facebook.

There’s a lot going on at First Friday and a great way to track it is at NewTown Macon’s www.facebook.com/NTMacon page by going to their Events section.

Also, don’t miss touring The Weaver Center for Dance, 117 Orange St., from 10 a.m. until noon Saturday. See www.facebook.com/NutcrackerofMiddleGeorgia for details.

Contact writer Michael W. Pannell at mwpannell@gmail.com.