Painting High Point Bright: Main in Color – Arts & Design Festival
While High Point, North Carolina, has been known as the center of home furnishings design for the better part of a century, it’s also a city teeming with creativity and artistic expression. While the furniture industry takes center stage when it comes to our city’s creative output, there are those in High Point who know that creativity can take on many forms. And some of those folks have taken it upon themselves to foster a thriving art and design community that truly reflects (and attracts!) the diversity and inclusivity of local artists.
Thanks to Kara Blue and Sarah King that desire has given birth to High Point’s inaugural art and design festival, Main in Color – Arts + Design Festival, presented by Bethany Medical and The Lenny Peters Foundation. Kara and Sarah, friends who met during their college years at Appalachian State University, and both found themselves living in High Point, NC, remember their college days in Boone. They would walk downtown on “First Fridays,” exploring open art galleries and findings local artisan wares.
“All the galleries here [in High Point] are kind of spread out,” Kara notes, which led her and Sarah to discuss how they could potentially simulate a similar experience in High Point. They also found themselves deeply inspired by one spot in High Point that stands as a defiant and edgy expression of art in the middle of our downtown.
“The Pit was the inspiration,” Kara says of the concrete mural park, well-known and loved in High Point. What if High Point could have an arts festival feel, just as edgy, bright, and expressive as The Pit? They determined that an arts festival is just what the city needed to bridge the gap between the home furnishings industry, local artists, and of course, the community.
The event, taking place on July 15 in downtown High Point, will emphasize inclusion and accessibility, aiming to break down barriers and create a space where everyone can appreciate and participate in the arts in High Point. Kara and Sarah have envisioned downtown High Point activated with live street art, art vendors, food trucks, live music, and more.
“Everyone can come. All different mediums of art are welcome. It’s something for the community," Kara says, noting that Main in Color – Arts + Design Festival seeks to see diversity represented across artists, media, and styles.
Of course, a festival of these proportions has to have a lot of folks involved to make it successful, just like a beautiful work of art incorporates a wide variety of techniques, colors, and materials.
Sabrina Tillman, the owner of Gallery on Main has supported turning the festival inspiration, The Pit, into a space for live street art during Main in Color – Arts + Design Festival. Sabrina connected with street artists who will tag the spot, and Sherwin Williams donated paint to white-wash the space to transform it into a vibrant canvas for said street artists to express their creativity. The Pit, viewable from a breezeway connecting Main Street and High Street, adds an element of curiosity and intrigue for passersby.
Along with Bethany Medical, The Lenny Peters Foundation, and Sabrina and Gallery on Main, there will be a large variety of partners making Main in Color – Arts + Design Festival happen. For example, Main in Color – Arts + Design Festival will be partnering with COHAB Space to host a pre-party on Friday, July 14. The Art Gallery at Congdon Yards (TAG) will also be creating an artistic backdrop for the festival.
Dana East, Events Development Manager at Visit High Point, has also been instrumental in getting the event off the ground. With a vested interest in seeing the city succeed as a place people want to live, work, and play – Dana also has a personal affection for the festival. Her young daughter is an artist, one Dana is convinced will be a gallery owner of her own one day.
“I think it's important for us to show the children that they can be creative,” Dana says, noting she wants her daughter to see and look up to artists who look like her as a Black woman – but also some who don’t.
“They won't all look like us,” Dana notes. “They won't all look like me or you. So I want to make sure that we have a variety – even down to our music.”
The variety at the festival is also part of the idea of activating the downtown streets. Sarah notes that that’s one of her primary goals. As a High Point native, Sarah wants to see even more folks make their way to downtown to enjoy our creative city.
“That’s why it’s important for us to get as many arts and design organizations involved as possible,” Sarah says. “Because when we have them behind us, we’ll be able to activate other parts of the city.”
Along with partnering with art organizations in the city, the Main in Color – Arts + Design Festival volunteers are collaborating with our home furnishings industry as well to interweave a huge part of our creative culture, by partnering with Phillips Collection, who is donating a statue for the crowd to paint as a community project during the festival.
The festival seeks to showcase more than 50 artists and vendors, offering an array of art forms and styles. Attendees will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in live mural painting, screen printing, and lots of family fun – all while enjoying curated music performances on the street and the main stage. The immersive experience will take place on the blocked downtown streets, Main Street at High Avenue and Green Street, thanks to the City of High Point’s support.
Ultimately, the organizers of Main in Color – Arts + Design Festival hope to see the event replicated again and again, drawing people statewide to see High Point as a mecca for the arts and design world. Because they understand the transformative power of art, and its potential to empower our entire community.
“Arts are for breaking barriers,” says Raven Jefferson, Volunteer Committee Lead of Main in Color – Arts + Design Festival. “Arts are for tearing down walls. It's a common language that everyone understands regardless of their background and appreciation of arts.”
“We want to be a voice for artists,” Dana adds; the organizers hope that the festival will also be a jumping-off point for attendees to see the positive effects of art in the school system, in mental health resources, in social connectivity, and more.
“A goal of this is to create an event that brings the entire city together, the entire community,” Sarah concludes. “It’s an art event that’s accessible to everyone.”
“Arts are for breaking barriers. Arts are for tearing down walls. It's a common language that everyone understands regardless of their background and appreciation of arts.”
Raven Jefferson, Volunteer Committee Lead of Main in Color – Arts + Design Festival
Attend the PRE-PARTY for Main in Color – Arts & Design Festival at COHAB Space on July 14 at 8PM. This event is ticketed and tickets can be purchased here.
Discover Main in Color – Arts & Design Festival for yourself on July 15, from 3PM-8PM in downtown High Point! This event is FREE and open to the public!
Discover our High Points,
The HPD Team