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Where Art, Advocacy, and Leadership Converge: The 10th Council District, Women of Power, and The Concrete Rose Project


In Los Angeles, progress has always been driven by coalitions of women who lead with conviction, culture, and community at the center. That legacy was on full display at the 10th Council District Women’s Steering Committee Event, a gathering rooted in more than five decades of civic engagement and advocacy—founded in 1973 to ensure women’s voices remain integral to policy, leadership, and neighborhood development.


At this year’s event honoring Heather Hutt, the past, present, and future of that mission came together in a powerful visual and symbolic moment: WanJean, founder of The Concrete Rose Project (TCRP), presented her 2D portrait honoring Maxine Waters—a woman whose name is inseparable from modern Black political leadership in Los Angeles and beyond.


The 10th Council District Women’s Steering Committee: A Legacy of Collective Power



Since its founding in 1973, the 10th Council District Women’s Steering Committee has served as a civic anchor—bringing together women leaders, organizers, educators, and professionals committed to:


  • Voter engagement and political education

  • Policy accountability at the local level

  • Community empowerment through leadership development

  • Honoring women who shape Los Angeles from the inside out


This body has long understood that representation is not symbolic—it is structural. Its events are designed not just to celebrate leadership, but to reinforce the networks that sustain it.


Heather Hutt: Stewardship, Stability, and Forward Motion


As Councilwoman for District 10, Heather Hutt represents continuity and renewal. Her leadership reflects a deep understanding of the district’s history paired with a commitment to pragmatic governance—balancing infrastructure, housing, public safety, and cultural preservation.


Honoring her at this event underscored the Council’s belief that women-led governance is strongest when it is collaborative, accountable, and grounded in lived community experience.


Maxine Waters: The Blueprint for Bold Representation


The portrait WanJean presented depicts Congresswoman Maxine Waters, whose decades-long career has reshaped what fearless representation looks like. From local organizing roots to national legislative leadership, Waters has consistently stood at the intersection of:


  • Economic justice

  • Civil rights

  • Community reinvestment

  • Unapologetic truth-telling


Her legacy is not only political—it is cultural. She represents a lineage of leadership that refuses erasure, a lineage the Women’s Steering Committee continues to protect and extend.


WanJean and The Concrete Rose Project: Art as Civic Infrastructure


WanJean’s work exists where art meets public memory.


Through The Concrete Rose Project, she uses portraiture, monuments, and large-scale visual storytelling to ensure that leaders like Maxine Waters are not only remembered in text—but seen, felt, and honored in public space. Her Monuments Initiative is actively engaging city officials, council districts, and community stakeholders across Los Angeles County to establish permanent cultural landmarks that reflect the people who built these communities.

Presenting this artwork at a civic women’s leadership event was intentional. It reaffirmed TCRP’s core belief:

Culture belongs inside governance—not on the margins of it.

How It All Works Together


This moment was not isolated—it was ecosystem-building in action:

  • A historic women’s council honoring current leadership

  • A sitting councilwoman representing continuity and care

  • A legendary congresswoman symbolizing courage and longevity

  • An artist translating legacy into visual truth


Together, they demonstrate how policy, advocacy, and culture reinforce one another when aligned by shared values.


Why This Matters


When women gather with intention, they don’t just celebrate progress—they architect it.

Events like this are how The Concrete Rose Project advances its mission: by engaging directly with civic institutions, honoring legacy leaders, and embedding art into the spaces where decisions are made.


This is how monuments begin—not with stone, but with relationships.

Support the Work


The Concrete Rose Project continues to collaborate with city officials, councils, business leaders, and community advocates to ensure cultural truth has a permanent place in our cities.


If you believe:


  • Leadership deserves to be visibly honored

  • Women’s contributions must be permanently documented

  • Art is a tool for justice and memory


👉 Support The Concrete Rose Project

👉 Donate. Partner. Amplify.


Because the rose that grows from concrete does so with purpose—and it leaves roots strong enough for generations to follow.



 
 
 

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