From the front to the back of the venue, rows of female artists and entrepreneurs share their art at SJ Makers’ event, Sweet and Street, to celebrate Women’s History Month, on Saturday in Downtown San Jose.
At the back of the venue, graffiti artist Money MGK spray painted white canvases with her all-female crew of artists.
Money MGK said she started doing graffiti art on paper at home when she was in high school.
She said after some time, her friends noticed her artwork and recommended she try out spray painting.
Money MGK said she was hesitant at first despite her friends’ encouragement.
“I thought it was like a sacred thing, like only certain people can do it. I thought you needed, like, a frickin’ pass or something,” Money MGK said. “They're like, ‘Nah, dude, just try it. Just grab the spray paint.’”
She said after her friend bought her her first can of paint, she’s been addicted to spray painting graffiti art ever since.
Money MGK said after doing graffiti art for years, she wanted to start her own crew of graffiti artists.
She decided to form the Mad Girls Crew, an all-female group of spray paint artists focused on making space for female artists in a male-dominated sector of the art community.
“I ended up making something instead of waiting around for someone to fill me in somewhere,” Money MGK said. “I was like, ‘Fuck it, I'm going to start my own thing.’”
In another tent, Alexis Pacheco, a nail tech and founder of Nails XO Lexi, was applying acrylic nails to a girl's hands under a bright LED lamp.
Pacheco said the idea to start her own business came from her desire to get her nails done.
Pacheco said she decided to learn how to paint and form acrylic nails on herself during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I was a regular going into the nail salons at least once a month, like, I was in there 24/7,” she said.
Pacheco said she learned how to do her own nails when she couldn’t get them done in person.
She said after learning to do her own nails, she started turning it into a business while she was still living with her parents.
Pacheco said four years later, she moved her business to a studio in Gilroy, where she provides several manicure and pedicure services.
She said she gives props to every female business owner who was at Sweet and Street because she knows how hard it is to start one.
In another tent, Emily Rangeo and Guadalupe Talavera sat down crocheting and making jewelry.
Both women, along with two other friends make products for stitches be trippin, a clothing and jewelry business that upcycles thrifted items.
“I try to reuse and bring life back to things that I find or come across and try to repair,” Talavera said.
She said she continued to make jewelry with thrifted beads after discovering that people have an interest in owning something unique and one of a kind.
“People like things that are different,” Talavera said. “People like things that are one of a kind and because my things are thrifted, I don't have the same bead twice unless I find it somewhere hidden.”
Talavera said she, Rangeo, Rangeo’s sister and another friend work together to sew clothes and make jewelry to sell.
She said not all of the women were close friends when they decided to collaborate together for the first time.
“We didn't really know each other all that well [. . .],” Talavera said. “It was just kind of like, ‘Let's just connect and sell our stuff together [. . .]’.”
After working and cooperating with one another, Talavera said the four grew closer as a group.
She said they sometimes try to collaborate to make unique pieces to sell.
“It's just been fun being able to create that kind of stuff, which makes it really easy to create stuff when you're creating with a bunch of people,” Talavera said.
In the future, Talavera said she and the four girls aim to create workshops to teach people how to use thrifted items to create their own clothing and jewelry pieces.
