Congratulations to the women of Greensboro, North Carolina on their second annual Female Artist Takeover city-wide festival of women artists.

Last year, they had a one-day event with 50 women artists and 18 venues and galleries participating,  This year they are doing a four-day event featuring over 150 female artists in over 40 venues and galleries from March 6 through March 9.  

The festival was started in 2013 by a group of dedicated female artists of all disciplines who wanted to draw attention to the contributions women make to the overall artistic community. Spearheaded by pianist/actress Stephanie Lindley and photographer Bonnie Stanley, the Greensboro-based group chose the name Female Artist Collective and began planning their inaugural event.

They asked local performing and visual arts venues to book female artists on the evening of March 8, International Women’s Day, and over 18 restaurants, nightclubs, coffee shops and other venues responded to create a city-wide celebration.

Encouraged by the support from the community, venues, media, and artists themselves,  the Female Artist Collective decided to expand the celebration this year from a one- to a four-day event.  Some of the events have been re-scheduled due to storms in the area, but they planned a kickoff party for Thursday, March 6th, at Scuppernong Books, followed by a series of events in downtown Greensboro in conjunction with First Friday on March 7th, and then events throughout Guilford County on Saturday, and finally a reception for a gallery show opening of 7 female artists at Uptown Artworks on Sunday, March 9.

The festival includes musicians, comedians, visual artists, craftswomen, spoken word artists, and more.  The impressive schedule is on their website at: femaleartisttakeover.com.