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The Female Mechanics Calendar gives positive visibility to women who work in the non-traditional labor field of mechanics. This unique 14 month calendar includes automobile, motorcycle, jet aircraft, bicycle, hot rod, race car, hybrid, and diesel mechanics from around the country. In addition to the main photo, each month shows multiple images of the mechanic, and includes a biography telling her story of how she entered the field. The project challenges stereotypes of the typical tool-girl, pin-up calendar by showing a variety of real women mechanics working in their shop environments.

“Because not many high school girls have ever met a female mechanic, they affirm an identity that doesn’t include that option. Only the strong and independent will venture beyond. Lyon did, and now she’s pulling together a tribe of her own invention.”
Nance Harris, writer, Nebraska Trucker Magazine

“The Female Mechanics Calendar eases the alienation we’re sometimes made to feel, depicting women mechanics as a strong and dedicated community, ready to take on the challenges of the shop environment right alongside their male colleagues.”
Jen, Editor of CarDomain.com

“This calendar idea just rocks, it’s absolutely inspiring.”
Grace, heavy machine operator, Ontario, Canada

About the project

Found mostly through word of mouth, Sarah met with more than 40 women mechanics from around the United States to create three different Female Mechanics Calendars. A motorcycle mechanic and riding enthusiast since age 19, Sarah began her journey of finding female mechanics in 2006 when she set out for California, alone, on her vintage Yamaha motorcycle. 9000 miles later she produced the 2007 Female Mechanics Calendar, the first of its kind. National and international response was so favorable that the next year she decided to produce another, riding 12,000 miles to both coasts on her 1977 BMW R100S motorcycle for the 2008 Female Mechanics Calendar. This summer Sarah, 30, traveled from her hometown of Louisville, Kentucky around the country again, this time using a variety of transportation methods including her BMW motorcycle, airplanes, her Chevy truck, various borrowed bicycles, motorcycles, and cars, public transport, and even a ferry across Lake Michigan.

“My inspiration to create the Female Mechanics Calendars came from my experience working as a carpenter and as a motorcycle mechanic in shops where I often felt like an anomaly for being a woman. I feel that it is so important for people to see that there are women who actually work these jobs, and can thrive if given the opportunity to learn. I am continually inspired by the people I have met while creating this project.”
Sarah Lyon, creator of the Female Mechanics Calendars

A freelance artist and college photography instructor, Sarah’s artwork has been shown in galleries and museums in California, Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, and internationally in Moscow, Russia, and Graz, Austria. She lives in Louisville, Kentucky.

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