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Birmingham · August 20 - September 20, 2026

the girls guide to Design Month

Your unofficial guide to the women-led events, showcases, workshops, and can't-miss moments happening around Design Month in Birmingham.

Whether you're an artist, maker, enthusiast, student, or simply curious about Birmingham's design ecosystem, we've rounded up some of our favorite events happening before, during, and around Design Month.

Come solo. Bring a friend. Leave with a bigger network.

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Women founders and investors connecting at a networking event

Design Month lineup

10+ events. One incredible month.

From designing with AI to the business of design, there is an event for you!

Thursday, August 13

Building Futures Through Public Art - Case Study: Atlantis Rising, Woodruff Park, Atlanta

4:30 PM – 7:00 PM The Greenhouse, 602 19th St, Ensley, Birmingham, AL 35218
Join us in person for an inspiring event all about how public art transforms neighborhoods and brings people together. Led by Atlanta artist Ellex Swavoni, this workshop will pull back the curtain on the journey from concept to production, sharing the specific planning and collaboration frameworks she uses in her own practice. Drawing on her experience as a public artist working with commercial and municipal institutions, Ellex will provide a behind the scenes look at navigating complex partnerships without losing your creative identity, as well as how to be mindful of the communities you serve while producing public works.
FreeRSVP Required

Free with RSVP

RSVP Now
Sold Out
Thursday, August 14

Design and Create: Concrete Planters

5:30 PM – 7:30 PM Birmingham Botanical Gardens
Learn the fundamentals of working with concrete as you design and cast your own custom planters from start to finish. Artist and Vivatia Plant Care Services owner Astrid Jerez will guide you through the process of creating your own planters while learning foundational techniques in concrete, design, and plant styling. Each participant will take home 3–4 unique planters—no experience needed.
RSVP Required

$50

RSVP Now
Tuesday, August 18

Alabama Women in Business Luncheon

11:30 AM – 1:00 PM The Club
Come design your health care journey! Hear from local experts on women's health while enjoying a delicious meal in the company of other women.
RSVP RequiredPartner Event

$50 until 8/10; $75 after 8/10

Buy a Ticket
Wednesday, August 19

Girls' Girl Luncheon

11:30 AM Pizza Grace
Girls' Girl is all about elevating and empowering women. All women, regardless of their backgrounds and experiences!
FreeRSVP Required

Free with RSVP

RSVP by Email
Design Month Kickoff
Thursday, August 20

The Business of Design

4:00 PM Linn Henley Research Library (2100 Park Pl)
Join Malone Unlimited and Create Birmingham to kick off Design Month with a powerhouse panel featuring Margot Shaw, T. Marie King, and Leigh Spencer. Book signing with Margot Shaw to follow.
FreeRSVP Required

Free with RSVP

RSVP Now
Monday, August 24

"Lilly" at Sidewalk Film Festival

2:00 PM Sidewalk Film Center
Lilly tells the story of equal pay trailblazer Lilly Ledbetter. The film follows Ledbetter's transformation from a working-class Alabama tire factory supervisor into the face of a nationwide movement after she discovers she was paid half the salary of her male peers.
Ticket Required

Ticket required

Buy a Ticket
Tuesday, August 25

#TechTuesday x Sidewalk Film: Lights, Camera, Innovation

Presented by TechBirmingham

11:30 AM – 1:00 PM

Alabama's film industry is growing, and we're bringing together voices from across the creative ecosystem: commercial and broadcast production, grassroots filmmaker development, and documentary storytelling. The conversation covers talent pipelines, the tech reshaping how films get made, and what it takes to keep the momentum going.

Moderated by Sidewalk's Jessica Chriesman.

This event is free for all and goes fast — grab your seat today.

Free

Free

RSVP
Tuesday, August 25

BWIT AI Series: Session 8, AI Ready Culture

Presented by Birmingham Women in Tech

12:00 PM – 1:30 PM Innovation Depot
Final session in the AI series focused on empowering women through AI knowledge and innovation.
FreePartner Event

Free

No RSVP needed
Don't miss event!
Saturday, August 29

Women in Film highlight @ Sidewalk Film Festival

All Day multiple

Grab a day pass for Sidewalk Film Festival and catch several woman-made films.

Start the day with A Woman's Work, a stirring portrayal of a female coal miner working to support her sisters while dreaming of a life with her secret girlfriend.

Then check out PUNKIE, a behind the scenes portrait of a stand up comedian and Saturday Night Live star as she deals with life, touring on the road, trying to protect her artistic voice, and true self.

Don't miss Show Me the Line; when an Alabama court jeopardizes access to IVF and her own embryos, artist Abbey Crain refuses to surrender her creative power. In this triumphant tour de force, Crain and a group of fertility patients reckon with the threats to their family future, unearthing hope from an unsettled legal landscape.

Ticket Required

Ticket required

Buy a Ticket
Design Month Highlight
Wednesday, September 2

Screen Printing Happy Hour

Hosted by Malone Unlimited + MAKE

5:00 PM – 7:00 PM (drop in to print when you can) MAKE print studio
Join Malone Unlimited in the MAKE print studio for an evening of putting design to paper (or fabric). Hannah of MAKE & hm.prints and Pepper of Pepper Palm will be teaching you how to pull your own silk screen print on shirts and posters featuring a custom Birmingham Design Month print. We'll have beverages, light snacks, and be chatting all things creative especially from the small maker business scope.
RSVP Required

$35, registration required

Register Now
Thursday, September 10

A League of Their Own @ Avondale Movies in the Park

6:30 PM Avondale Amphitheatre (4101 5th Ave S)
Kick off the evening with live music by Girls Rock!, then settle in for a classic girl-power flick under the stars. Sponsored by Coca Cola.
Open Event

No RSVP needed

No RSVP needed
Design Month Highlight
Sunday, September 13

Style in Motion: A Fashion Experience

5:00 PM Clubhouse on Highland (2908 Highland Avenue South)
A curated evening where fashion, creativity, and community come together. Join us for a one-of-a-kind experience celebrating style and the makers, movers, and models behind it.
RSVP Required

$30, $60 for VIP tickets

Get Tickets
Design Month Highlight
Cliff Spencer and team at Alabama Sawyer with reclaimed wood
Monday–Sunday, September 14-28

Alabama Sawyer 10 Year Anniversary Showcase

Varies Lakeview Marina

To celebrate our opening cut, we invite you for a festive year along our sawdust trail to “Camp Sawyer,” our 14-day gallery exhibition capped off by gatherings and events with friends, family, and fellow advocates of the urban timber movement. Throughout this year of celebration, we reflect on our ten years and dream together about the next ten and twenty at Alabama Sawyer.

Check out Alabama Sawyer in Style Blueprint.

Open Event

Open to the public

No RSVP needed
Friday, September 18

Maker Series: Sharon Whelton Glass

Presented by MAKEbhm

6:00 PM – 7:30 PM (Q&A at 6:30 PM) MAKEbhm
Join MAKEbhm for our next Maker Series talk with glass artist, Sharon Whelton. Having always admired the beauty of glass, Sharon took her first stained glass class in March of 2019 and fell in love with the process instantly. Glass art is at the perfect intersection of color, light, and shape. Her work aims to inspire a sense of joy and nostalgia, always reflecting her vibrant palette. This body of work focuses on mid century design - from roadside signs to vintage cars - and showcases all of the many techniques she uses to manipulate glass as an artistic medium. We'll be celebrating the opening of her show & presenting an artist Q&A that dives into her process, her path, and what keeps her making.
FreeOpen Event

Free & open to all

No RSVP needed
Design Month encore
Thursday–Sunday, October 1-4

Antiques at the Garden

Varies Birmingham Botanical Garden
Birmingham’s premier antiques show includes talks by internationally acclaimed interior designers, floral designers, architects, and landscape architects. The show also welcomes celebrated antiques dealers from across the nation and beyond, offering exquisitely curated antiques, fine art, vintage and fine jewelry, silver, rugs and textiles, home decor, and garden accessories.
RSVP Required

Sponsorship required to attend

No RSVP needed
Design Month encore
Saturday, October 17

Yonder Walls Mural Festival

All Day Urban Supply, Parkside District, Birmingham
The inaugural Yonder Walls Mural Festival will bring more than 25 new murals to life, showcasing artistic talent across Alabama and beyond. Watch artists paint live throughout the day and explore the Parkside District as it transforms into an open-air gallery.
Open Event

Free & Open to All

No RSVP needed

Want to stay in the loop with girl-focused events all year round? Check out Girls' Girl, an intentional community of women who support each other professionally and in life.

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with love from

Design Month partners

The organizations, makers, and magazines helping bring Design Month to life.

Create Birmingham logoVisit site →Malone Unlimited logoVisit site →Alabama Sawyer logoVisit site →d'Trespa Vintage & Consignment logoVisit site →

why we're sharing this

Good design isn't decoration. It's how products get made, stories get told, communities take shape, and businesses grow.

Design Month celebrates the women who turn creativity into companies—and invites all of us to invest in that work, whether with our dollars, our attention, or our partnerships.

Whether you're attending one event or all of them, we hope you'll join us.

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Diverse group of joyful women laughing and hugging together
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