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“Design creates culture.
Culture shapes values.
Values determine the future.”

— Robert L. Peters
Birmingham · August 20 - September 20, 2026

Birmingham Design Month

Design Month is a celebration of Birmingham’s creative economy and the people and businesses shaping how our city looks, feels, and functions.

Through conversations, events, pop-ups, and community gatherings, Design Month brings together designers, makers, entrepreneurs, and design enthusiasts across disciplines—from architecture and interiors to fashion, film, graphic design, and the built environment.

The month is an opportunity to discover local talent, connect Birmingham’s creative community, and explore how great design contributes to a more distinctive, vibrant, and economically thriving city.

Birmingham Design Month poster — a citywide celebration, Aug 20 to Sept 28

Design Month lineup

20+ events. One incredible month.

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

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
Friday, August 21

ART AT NIGHT

By Studio 2500 - Fine Art Gallery and Studios

6:00 PM – 8:00 PM Studio 2500 (2500 26th Ave N, Birmingham, AL)

AN ART EXPERIENCE FOR THE CULTURE.

ART AT NIGHT is back at Studio 2500! Experience #BLACKARTAUGUST, an immersive art exhibit that celebrates the legacy of Betye Saar, foundational and central figure of the Black Arts Movement.

An event for all ages featuring local artists, open mic, music, food, and good vibes.

Ticket RequiredOpen Event

$10 (free for children 12 and under)

Get Tickets
Saturday, August 22

The Powder Room Flea Market

8:00 AM – 12:00 PM WORKPLAY, 500 23rd St S, Birmingham, AL 35233
Birmingham's first inclusive, women-owned and operated vintage and thrift market featuring an all-female vendor lineup. Shop vintage clothing, accessories, and home decor; visit the print photobooth; and enjoy specialty drinks with local community partners.
Open Event

Check updates or RSVP via The Powder Room Instagram

No RSVP needed
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
Malone Unlimited Design Pop-Up
Design Month Furniture pop-up flyer — Forest Park, Revival Antiques, Aug 26, 4-6 PM
Wednesday, August 26

Design Pop-Up: Furniture

Presented by Malone Unlimited

4:00 PM – 6:00 PM Revival Antiques, Forest Park
A one-night shop takeover at Revival Antiques in Forest Park. Curated for interior design lovers and Forest Park residents looking to bring vintage furniture, maker pieces, and Birmingham-made design home.
FreeOpen EventPop-Up

Free & open to the public

RSVP Now
Thursday, August 27

AEC - Birmingham AI Breakout - August 2026

By Birmingham AI

11:30 AM – 1:00 PM Innovation Depot Inc, Birmingham, AL (Training Room in the big open atrium on the left)

How AI is affecting Architecture, Engineering, and Construction. Learn about AI use cases and tools for your AEC team. Lunch included.

Agenda: Welcome and Networking · Lunch · Speaker Talk / Demo. Seats are limited, so reserve your spot today and be part of Birmingham's thriving AI community.

FreeRSVP Required

Free with RSVP

RSVP Now
Thursday, August 27

Animation Master Class

Sidewalk Film Festival

3:30 PM Sidewalk Film Center & Cinema

Part of the 28th Annual Sidewalk Film Festival.

Join award-winning animator Bill Plympton as he discusses animation and reviews his long career. This specially ticketed event includes a Q+A, signing, and photo opportunity.

Ticket Required

Ticket required

Buy Tickets
Thursday, August 27

Graphic Design Happy Hour

5:00 PM – 7:30 PM Billy's Tavern (2829 6th Ave S, Birmingham, AL)
A monthly meeting for designers who want to hang out.
FreeOpen Event

Free

No RSVP needed
Thursday, August 27

Canva Vision Board Workshop at Cha House Bham

6:30 PM – 8:00 PM Cha House Bham (131 41st St S, Birmingham, AL 35222)

Learn basic skills and envision the rest of 2026!

We'll spend a little time meditating on our vision and then learn Canva skills along the way while we make it. Q&A will be open the entire time, and any questions we can't solve there, we'll research and get back to you.

Free event; tea available for purchase.

FreeOpen Event
Thursday, August 27

The Break Room

Details coming soon Birmingham, AL
The Break Room is an anti-networking social meetup series in Birmingham, AL, created by local designer and photographer Carol Clark for creatives, designers, and young builders under 40. It cuts out stale corporate handshakes for casual, real conversations over drinks.
FreeOpen Event

Free

No RSVP needed
Saturday, August 29

Arc of Justice Day 2026

By Studio 2500 - Fine Art Gallery and Studios

11:00 AM – 2:00 PM Studio 2500, 2500 26th Ave N, Birmingham, AL 35234

Arc of Justice Day celebrates the power of unity and equality in our community.

Come join us for a day dedicated to celebrating justice and equality in our community. The Arc of Justice Monument celebrates 4 years of community and social impact from Birmingham beyond.

This event will be held at Studio 2500, located at 2500 26th Ave N, Birmingham, AL 35234. There, we will have a special program starting at 11am, including guest speakers, performing artists, awards and recognitions. The day will continue with outdoor art activities, vendors, community organization booths, food and music.

Don't miss out on this opportunity to be part of a movement towards a more just society. See you there!

FreeRSVP Required

Free with RSVP

RSVP Now
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
Malone Unlimited Design Pop-Up
Design Month Flare pop-up flyer — Mountain Brook, Avani Rupa Fine Jewelers, Sept 1, 4-6 PM
Tuesday, September 1

Design Pop-Up: Flare

Presented by Malone Unlimited

4:00 PM – 6:00 PM Avani Rupa Fine Jewelers, Mountain Brook
A one-night pop-up at Avani Rupa Fine Jewelers in Mountain Brook. Tailored for Mountain Brook residents, philanthropists, and anyone who loves fine design and giving back to the community.
FreeOpen EventPop-Up

Free & open to the public

RSVP Now
Design Month Highlight
Design Month Craft pop-up flyer — Avondale, MAKE Birmingham, Sept 2, 5-7 PM
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
Wednesday, September 2

Fashion and Business Networking | Elevating Your Potential - Birmingham

6:00 PM – 8:00 PM Mayawell Bar, Birmingham, AL

Strive welcomes you to Birmingham's hottest fashion and business networking event. A multi-vertical evening for tenured professionals and newcomers to connect across fashion, finance, tech, real estate, healthcare, and more.

Bring business cards and an open mind. Name tags provided. Business casual / job fair attire. 21+ event; limited tickets available.

Ticket Required
Malone Unlimited Design Pop-Up
Design Month Culture pop-up flyer — basic. & Grounds, downtown, Sept 8, 4-6 PM
Tuesday, September 8

Design Pop-Up: Culture

Presented by Malone Unlimited

4:00 PM – 6:00 PM basic. & Grounds (downtown)
Join downtown neighbors, business owners, and Birmingham's graphic design and digital media crowd for coffee and a celebration of the creative talent shaping how our city looks, feels, and tells its story. Meet the designers behind the brands, campaigns, and creative work you see every day—and connect with the people helping make downtown a more vibrant place to live, work, and create.
FreeOpen EventPop-Up

Free & open to the public

RSVP Now
Malone Unlimited Design Pop-Up
Design Month Fashion pop-up flyer — Soiree, Pepper Place, Sept 9, 4-6 PM
Wednesday, September 9

Design Pop-Up: Fashion

Presented by Malone Unlimited

4:00 PM – 6:00 PM Soiree in Pepper Place
A one-night gathering at Soiree in Pepper Place for young professionals ready to connect with Birmingham's design scene and discover local makers, stylists, and creative entrepreneurs.
FreeOpen EventPop-Up

Free & open to the public

RSVP Now
Don't miss event!
Friday & Saturday, September 11-12

Artwalk

Friday 5:00 PM – 10:00 PM; Saturday 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM Downtown Birmingham, AL
A two-day arts festival that transforms Birmingham’s downtown neighborhood into an arts district, featuring the work of more than 100+ visual artists, live musicians, street performers, food and drink vendors, and children’s activities. Through the good will of area businesses and the work of dedicated volunteers, Artwalk hosts established and emerging regional artists in the unique and architecturally rich setting of downtown Birmingham. Art lovers will see original work in all mediums priced from the affordable to the extravagant. Friday night feels like a huge gallery opening with a street festival atmosphere, while Saturday afternoon caters to the family crowd with the Artwalk “PeeWee Picassos” KidZone from 11:00 AM – 4:00 PM (Saturday only), where kids can create their own make-and-take arts and crafts.

Learn more at birminghamartwalk.org

FreeOpen Event

Free to the public — 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
Don't miss event!
Friday, September 25

Roll Call Opening Panel: In Conversation with Richard Dial, Roscoe Hall, and Celestia Morgan

5:00 PM – 9:00 PM Birmingham Museum of Art

Roll Call: Two Hundred Years of Black American Art opens with a conversation featuring Richard Dial, Roscoe Hall, and Celestia Morgan—three Birmingham-area artists featured in the exhibition—moderated by Jade Powers, Hugh Kaul Curator of Contemporary Art at the Birmingham Museum of Art. Through photography, painting, and sculpture, the panel will explore how personal narrative, cultural memory, and lived experience shape each artist's practice while reflecting broader histories tied to race, place, labor, family, and systemic inequity in the American South.

Celestia Morgan is a Birmingham-based artist whose photography and sculptural practice explores the lasting impact of redlining, displacement, and systemic inequality within Alabama communities. Her work is held in the permanent collections of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and the Birmingham Museum of Art.

Roscoe Hall is a Birmingham-based painter and multidisciplinary artist whose work examines histories of race, identity, mortality, and social injustice through layered and emotionally resonant imagery. His work has been exhibited nationally at institutions including the Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts and the Dallas Art Fair.

Richard Dial is a Bessemer-based self-taught artist whose sculptural works reflect a lifetime shaped by labor, family, craftsmanship, and creative perseverance. The son of acclaimed artist Thornton Dial, Richard developed a distinct visual language through figurative chairs and sculptural assemblages. In 2025, his work was the subject of a solo exhibition at MARCH Gallery in New York City.

Schedule: 5:00 PM Reception · 6:00–7:15 PM Panel · 5:00–9:00 PM Gallery access. Tickets are limited; registration is required for members and non-members.

RSVP Required

$19.71 for non-members; free for members

Register Now
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 design-focused events all year round? Check out Birmingham365 from our friends at Create Birmingham.

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with love from

Design Month partners

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

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 people who turn creativity into community—and invites all of us to invest in that work, whether with our dollars, our attention, or our partnerships.

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