Broad Street houses many of students’ favorite lunch-hour restaurants, including Tin Drum, Naan Stop and Mamma Mia’s. But the southwest side of the street beyond Five Points MARTA station is often the side students forget about. This “other side” of the street contains a quirky art gallery, The Mammal Gallery, with owners who hope they can improve the neighborhood with their business.
“A lot of buildings have failed business and nothing is really being done with these buildings. And people can just sit on the street and sell drugs because there’s nothing else is going on. It’s just empty,” Brian Egan, one of three operators of The Mammal Gallery, said.
Heads of the neighborhood association south of Five Points Kyle Kessler and Richard Miller are owners of several buildings on Broad Street.
When Kessler was in the market for an artist group to move into the area, he fell upon the names of Brian Egan and Chris Yonker, both former Georgia State students.
“It’s weird, it definitely fell into my lap,” said Egan.
After Yonker received the go to move into 91 Broad Street, he called long-time friend Dan Dewberry to join the team.
“I was in Savannah working and I just quit my job and came here. I have a weird faith with Chris Yonker. Whatever he puts his mind to, it usually turns out pretty well,” Dewberry said.
Brian Egan, Chris Yonker and Dan Dewberry are all in charge of the gallery with separate roles for each. Yonker takes care of scheduling and booking bands, Egan is responsible for the artwork and showcases and Dewberry picks up what is not finished along with videos and disc jockeying.
“We are focused on being kind of like a positive force on the street, so anything we do, the starting point is our location, space and time,” Egan said.
The gallery itself is split up into two floors serving two different purposes. Upstairs, the art gallery is showcased and opens two hours before the downstairs area on event nights. Downstairs, the decor is eccentric; pink and ivory chevon covers the walls. Friends of friends come together and celebrate both art and music on these nights.
Community plays a role with The Mammal Gallery. The owners not only want to make a community for artists and musicians in the Atlanta area but also want to create a place Georgia State students can call home.
“It’s like the coolest spot. It’s a little out of the way, but if you go there it’s cool because it’s not like the whole GSU population is there,” Egan said. “I wanted to see this collaboration between Georgia State and us because we are the middle point between Georgia State and Castleberry Hill.”
The name “Mammal Gallery” came from a thinking process of wanting a name that sounded warm and homey. Their first thought was “The Butter Gallery,” but they soon realized it was being used in Miami. Putting the relation between humans and mammals, it all made sense.
The team would like the gallery to eventually be in the same category as The Earl or 529. Since there is nothing in the downtown area to cater to something like this, the Mammal team remains hopeful.
“There’s a bunch of art galleries around, music venues and bars around, but there’s not too many that focus on the people that are showing work or preforming.” Dewberry said.
The Mammal Gallery’s owners showcase art and music because they enjoy seeing a community come together in an area like downtown Atlanta.
“I love the feeling of bringing people together. It meets a lot of restraint kind of, but once it’s over you can take a deep breath and look at the end results,” Egan said.
