On March 29, 12 women will stand in the parking lot of Tower Theatre during the ALL Women Live Painting event. Surrounded by a throng of people they will begin to create a piece of art from start to finish. Some may work off of templates that they use for reference while others conjure images spontaneously. One artist will use traditional acrylic paint while another grabs a can of spray paint.

Despite differences in artistic style and technique, they will all gather with a common goal: to champion local female creatives and empower others to do the same.

Lauren de Necochea, event organizer with The Tower District, says ALL Women Live Painting events were created to be a space for creativity and community.

“ALL Women is really just like a celebration of women across all trades, talents, backgrounds, identities and orientations,” Nechochea says. “The main goal is to just create a space where women feel seen, supported and celebrated.”

The third annual All Women Live Painting event will be held on March 29 in the parking lot of the Tower Theater from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The free event, hosted by The Tower District and Yellow Brick Group, will have 12 artists create an art piece from start to finish. There will also be a wide range of  vendors, food trucks and a DJ.

Necochea says one of the rewarding parts of hosting the event is being introduced to new women-owned businesses or artists each year.

Brianne Chaney, an artist who will be participating in this event for the first time, says she has also learned about other artists through the event, many of whom she finds to be very talented and hard-working women.

This will be Chaney’s second time participating in a live painting event. She says live painting is fun because she believes it creates a bond between the community and the artist’s work.

“There is something about people being there watching you that makes them involved,” Chaney says. “Their presence becomes part of the painting itself. I think all the artists really vibe off of the energy of the people at the event and I think that that comes across in the art.  …that’s an element that I don’t get from painting in my living room.”

ALL Women Live Painting  emboldens artists to interact with attendees and one another. 

Tiranjini Pillai and Jaya King, two artists who will be participating this year, met through a past ALL Women event. Pillai says King is now like a mentor to her and provides her with advice as a fellow artist. The event allows her to come together with other artists to share techniques and processes, she adds.

King says it’s fun to catch up with fellow artists and regular art-festival attendees, describing them as family since they are all supportive of one another. The event is inclusive of newer artists who may not have a lot of experience, allowing everyone to demonstrate what they have to offer alongside more seasoned artists, King added.

King says the event proudly showcases artists who are part of  minority communities, including Black and LGBTQ+ artists.

“Having that space where it just uplifts those who have not had the loudest voices in history, it’s very important creatively, socially, culturally,” King says. “It’s integral for us to have a robust society to be able to support that and champion it.”

Pillai, who is Fijian and Indian, says seeing others of the same cultural background make art used to be rare. She is now able to connect with others who share the same heritage through her work and participating in ALL Women events.

“Growing up, it wasn’t really a common thing,” Pillai says, “When I’m live painting, there’s always someone coming up to me that’s part of the same culture that’s really excited to see me. That’s been something that’s been really inspiring, just to connect in that way and have that community.”

Necochea says the event has grown to the point where they received over 180 applications this year. Due to venue capacity, they were unable to increase the amount of artists but Necochea hopes to expand the event and its space in the future to include as many people as possible.

Necochea hopes for women to leave the event feeling that they can pursue whatever dream they have because a community exists that wants to shed light on their craft.

“I do feel like the common consensus that I always hear is people walk away feeling very empowered,” Necochea says. “You can’t help but feel the love in the air. There’s just a lot of just people championing for each other and just supporting each other.”

This story is part of the Solving Sacramento journalism collaborative. This story was funded by the City of Sacramento’s Arts and Creative Economy Journalism Grant to Solving Sacramento. Following our journalism code of ethics, the city had no editorial influence over this story. Our partners include California Groundbreakers, Capital Public Radio, Hmong Daily News, Outword, Russian America Media, Sacramento Business Journal, Sacramento News & Review and Sacramento Observer. Sign up for our “Sac Art Pulse” newsletter here.