Art Battle Brings Live Art Competition to Omaha

April 11th, 2025

The act of creating art is one that is often done alone, but for local artist Kaylee Purelight, creating art in front of a cheering crowd is both inspiring and thrilling. Art Battle returns to Omaha April 12.  

“So, it’s in North Omaha, and North Omaha is just so rich with culture and diversity, like it is so just like a vibe to go up there and just see all the different artists from everyone’s different perspective and point of life,” Kaylee said. 

Art Battle is a live art tournament that is held in cities across the globe. Created in 2001, Sean Bono hosted the first Art Battle on Houston Street in New York City. The art scene in the city held a culture of ruthless competition that was only fanned by influential artists picking and choosing who would make it big. The event on Houston Street was free for the public to watch and featured six artists creating original pieces with a 90-minute time limit. In 2009, Simon Plashkes debuted the first Art Battle in Toronto. Art Battles in various other cities began cropping up and by 2015 the event had grown to include the United Kingdom, Brazil and China. 

“I’m really grateful that Omaha has something like that because they hold art battles all throughout the country so to have one in Omaha is really cool,” Kaylee said. 

Each Art Battle features 12 artists who receive 20 minutes to create an original art piece. Artists are typically situated on a stage so that guests can walk around and view their progress. The first round consists of 6 painters and the crowd decides the top two painters. The second round follows the same format and the top four painters then go into the third round. The winner of the third round is declared the Art Battle Winner. Art Battle Winners can then participate in four levels of national and international competitions for the chance to compete in the world championship.  

Kaylee has been creating art since childhood. Growing up in Omaha, Kaylee learned much of her foundational art skills during her time attending public school. After graduating high school, Kaylee initially struggled with her dreams of becoming an artist.  

“I always felt like I could never pursue art as a career full time because there was always a stereotype of not making a lot of money from art but I realized when I was older that that’s just not true,” Kaylee said. “I pushed past those limiting beliefs and I just stepped into it more so now I paint murals for businesses full time and then also sell my paintings too.”

Kaylee takes much of her inspiration for her art through her spiritual beliefs. She took on the name Kaylee Purelight for her artistic endeavors.

“So, when I do create my art, I love to have like subtle channeled messages in them,” Kaylee said. “The older I get, the more I do want to like channel messages of just love and light and like self-empowerment because you never know what day could be.”

Kaylee originally saw an advertisement for Art Battle on her social media last year. Although it was close to the event date, she decided to apply for the Art Battle Omaha held in December 2024. She participated once again in Art Battle Omaha’s February event of this year. After finishing as one of the top four artists of that battle, she hopes to go even farther for her third Art Battle.  

The Art Battle will take place at Culxr House at 3014 N 24th St. Doors will open at 5 pm with painting starting at 6 pm. For more information, you can visit Art Battle’s website at www.artbattle.com.