Phoenix artist teams up with Pita Jungle to get creative for charity

Kathryn Sesma, the creator of La Jefa Paint who goes by the moniker "La Jefa," is many things: an artist, philanthropist and second-generation Mexican American who loves to give back to the community.

In a word, La Jefa's art is alive.

"I like to make my pieces sparkle and shine ... my culture plays a really big part in my subject matter. And when I think of Mexican culture, it's so alive and so vibrant and that's really something I try to capture." With heavy use of neon colors and glitter, she prefers acrylic paint as it displays the most vibrant colors.

You can see La Jefa in action on Friday night from 6 to 9 p.m., when she will be live-painting at the uptown Phoenix location of Pita Jungle, 5505 N. Seventh St., #110, during a Hummus & Heritage event in celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month. Pita Jungle will donate 35% of the proceeds of all hummus sold throughout the day, as well as 100% of the proceeds from the sale of her art, to benefit local nonprofit Community Comadres.

A native of Glendale, La Jefa was encouraged to delve into the visual arts at a young age.

"I was kind of in a sense a little thrown into it." Her mother bought her an art set when she was 8 years old and encouraged her to draw and paint. Later on, in college, this interest would resurface. She took an art elective in college where she further honed her skills.

Also during this time, COVID came about. La Jefa was furloughed from her job with the Arizona Diamondbacks. She had time on her hands; she also had paint supplies. And thus, La Jefa Paint was born.

Initially, she began by selling canvas paintings on Facebook to friends and family. When she returned to work, she received commissions from multiple professional athletes for her work. She also painted her first mural.

La Jefa says, "It was my stepping stone into doing art full-time."


After a time, La Jefa left her job with the Arizona Diamondbacks and began working at Art of our Soul, an initiative started by Brandon Lee (formerly of Arizona's Family 3TV & CBS 5) which provides art in therapy. Her new place of employment would have a profound effect on the way that she views art.

"I realized then and there that I could use art as a tool," she says, "and as a way to let go and put my emotions and past traumas into it. That's what (Lee) taught me ... to use art as an outlet and to use art as a way to represent yourself and who you are."

To this end, her art is greatly reflective of her culture. "I grew up very Americanized, I'm a second- and third-generation Mexican American and so I felt like I didn't know my culture, I didn't know my identity and so that's something that I tried to get into with my artwork: my Mexican heritage."

La Jefa began leaning into philanthropy in her 20s.

"I grew up ... in a very middle-class family. we struggled a lot. I was a homeless teen when I was 16," she says.

La Jefa was a student athlete and kept her living situation to herself: "Nobody knew that I had that going on." Struggling with the experience in private, she realized in early adulthood that she had a strong desire to help those in need.

"It's special to my heart. And I think it's important for us to take care of each other and be there for each other, and my way of doing that is through art," she says.

Lee also conducted extensive work in philanthropy, mainly in recovery centers throughout the Valley, which further inspired her to do the same. In addition to donating window signage to help local businesses, La Jefa has multiple ventures in the works benefiting Black Girl Brown Girl Collective, the Arizona Humane Society, The Hungry House and Arizona Women's Recovery Center.

Through her art and work in philanthropy, La Jefa was eventually connected with Community Comadres, a local nonprofit aimed at helping women develop personally and professionally. She was impressed by their work and how it benefits the community. So, later on when asked to participate in the Pita Jungle event benefiting Community Comadres, she didn't hesitate to commit.

"I really love how they uplift women ... I totally believe in what they stand for ... I love to see my people, women who look like me, being uplifted and supported, especially on that level," she says.

"Pita Jungle does a really great job," La Jefa says. "I know they really wanted to find a way to connect with the community and this was their way of doing so.. I feel really honored that they're doing it during Hispanic Heritage Month. This is their first time, and so they thought, what better way, what better time to do it than this time of year?"