The City of West Hollywood will celebrate National Women’s History Month in March with a series of virtual events to recognize and honor women and women’s history.
From Sunday, March 5, 2023 through Wednesday, March 22, 2023, the globe lanterns above Santa Monica Boulevard will glow in purple and gold. Throughout the month, a series of streetlamp banners that commemorate famous American women, civil rights leaders, and women’s rights activists will be on display along Santa Monica Boulevard. The City’s featured streetlamp banners will include: Gail Abarbanel; Maya Angelou; Ivy Bottini; Rachel Carson; Hillary Rodham Clinton; Midge Costanza; Marion Wright Edelman; Alicia Garza; Barbara Gittings; Dolores Huerta; Coretta Scott King; Wilma Mankiller; Michaela Mendelsohn; Patsy Mink; Connie Norman; Michelle Obama; Rosa Parks; Sonia Sotomayor; Gloria Steinem; Elizabeth Taylor; and Oprah Winfrey; among others.
National Women’s History Month will officially kick-off with the unveiling of two new women’s history month streetlamp banners honoring local community leaders: Nadia Sutton, founder of PAWS/LA, and, in memoriam, Ruth Williams, who was a neighborhood advocate who was involved in the City as early as its founding, and who served on the City’s Public Safety Commission for many years; Williams passed away in 2022. The streetlamp banners presentation will take place at the regular meeting of the West Hollywood City Council on Monday, March 6, 2023 at 6 p.m. at the City of West Hollywood’s Council Chambers/Public Meeting Room at the West Hollywood Library, located at 625 N. San Vicente Boulevard. Attendance is free; no RSVP is required. Limited validated parking will be available at the adjacent five-story structure. The City Council meeting broadcast will be available for viewing on the City’s website by visiting www.weho.org/wehotv or on the City’s WeHoTV YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/wehotv.
MashUp Contemporary Dance Company’s annual International Women’s Day Dance Festival will be held on Saturday, March 3, 2023 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Plummer Park’s Fiesta Hall, located at 7377 Santa Monica Boulevard. The event will kick off with a day full of community, dialogue, master classes, and performances through the LA Women in Dance Summit. Free admission. To find out more about the day of programming, visit: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/la-women-in-dance-summit-tickets-514314196607. This project is supported in part by a grant from the City of West Hollywood.
The City of West Hollywood and its Russian-Speaking Advisory Board will host a program created by Helix Collective celebrating International Women’s Day on Sunday, March 5, 2023 from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. at Plummer Park’s Fiesta Hall, located at 7377 Santa Monica Boulevard. The celebration features a concert featuring music by female composers of film, television, and video games. Helix Collective’s nine-piece film music ensemble will perform original works by Dara Taylor (The Tender Bar), Sherri Chung (Riverdale, The Red Line), Anna Drubich (Barbarian), Amritha Vaz (Mira, Royal Detective). There will also be a screening of an International Women’s Day documentary dedicated to women heroes in the local community. Free admission. For additional information call (323) 848-6826 or email wehorusevents@weho.org.
Women and Books is a book club that meets on the first Tuesday of each month to discuss books written by women authors. On Tuesday, March 7, 2023 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. the group will discuss In the Shadow of the Mountain: A Memoir of Courage by Silvia Vasquez-Lavado.Women and Books is co-sponsored by the City of West Hollywood through its Women’s Advisory Board and by West Hollywood Library. Admission is free, but space is limited so RSVPs are encouraged. This is a hybrid event and will be hosted in-person at the West Hollywood Library Community Meeting Room, located at 625 N. San Vicente Boulevard, as well as virtually via WebEx Meetings. To RSVP for the in-person event and for more information please visit the LA County Library website: https://lacountylibrary.org/west-hollywood-library/. To participate on WebEx Meetings please visit the following WebEx link: https://lacountylibrary.webex.com/lacountylibrary/j.php?MTID=maa8a00d769f8b023cc81d2d603b7184c.
The City of West Hollywood and its Women’s Advisory Board will co-sponsor the Annual Herstory Awards & Reception, which is presented by the Hollywood Chapter of the National Organization for Women (Hollywood NOW) to honor a woman who has made exceptional contributions to the community and embodies the spirit of feminism. This year’s honoree is Jeanette Robinson Flynt, Executive Director of Black Women for Wellness. The event will take place on Wednesday, March 15, 2023 at7 p.m. at the West Hollywood Library Community Meeting Room, located at 625 N. San Vicente Boulevard. Admission is free. For more information contact hollywoodnowchapter@gmail.com.
The City of West Hollywood will present A Conversation with Barbara Bain as part of its ongoing West Hollywood Artists and Icons Series on Thursday, March, 16, 2023 at 7 p.m. at the City of West Hollywood’s Council Chambers/Public Meeting Room at the West Hollywood Library, located at 625 N. San Vicente Boulevard. The conversation will highlight the career of actress Barbara Bain, who is best known for her work in the landmark television series Mission: Impossible and was the first actress in the history of television to receive three consecutive Emmy Awards for Best Dramatic Actress. Admission is free. RSVP Required: https://artistsandicons-mar2023.eventbrite.com.
The City of West Hollywood will join centennial celebrations across the country honoring the 100th anniversary of the Equal Rights Amendment by hosting a #ERA100 birthday bash on Wednesday, March 22, 2023 at 11 a.m. with the organization Equal Means Equal at the West Hollywood City Hall Courtyard, located at 8300 Santa Monica Boulevard. The Equal Rights Amendment was first introduced on March 22, 1923 by suffragist leader Alice Paul. Free Admission. For more information: #ERA100 | Online-RSVP.com or call (323) 848-6823.
In celebration of women authors, WeHo Reads: Crafting Literary Legacies will be held virtually on Wednesday, March 22, 2023 at6 p.m. The discussion will focus on creating new truths through storytelling and putting women at the center of literature with Natashia Deón, Toni Ann Johnson, Malia Márquez, and Laura Warrell. Admission is free. To RSVP and for more information, please visit www.weho.org/wehoreads. WeHo Reads is a literary series presented by the City of West Hollywood and produced by BookSwell.
Also on Wednesday, March 22, 2023, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., the 26th Annual West Hollywood Women in Leadership Awards and Reception will take place at the Andaz West Hollywood, located at 8401 Sunset Boulevard. The event is co-sponsored by the City of West Hollywood and its Women’s Advisory Board and the West Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. Admission is $25 and proceeds will benefit the West Hollywood Youth Scholarship Fund; for tickets, please visit https://wila2023.eventbrite.com or call (323) 848-6823.
The City and its Women’s Advisory Board will host the Women’s History Month Block Party on Saturday, March 25, 2023 from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. at West Hollywood Park, located at 647 N. San Vicente Boulevard. This fun and festive outdoor event will include a DJ, giveaways, booths featuring local women-owned businesses and resources, and a costume contest. Admission is free. For more information call (323) 848-6823.
The City will co-sponsor Ladies of Courage, presented by Eye of the Poet, a free two-day cultural arts celebration and festival celebrating the achievements of women, on Saturday, March 25, 2023 and Sunday, March 26, 2023 from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. at West Hollywood Park, located at 647 N. San Vicente Boulevard. The festival features art, poetry, music, dance, and projection mapping. Admission is free. For more information, including the event schedule, please visit: www.ladiesofcourage.com.
Artworks by noted women artists will be on display in West Hollywood throughout the month and beyond. Jessica Goehring’s LightWave, a kinetic artwork inspired by the California Light and Space Movement will be installed at the West Hollywood Aquatic and Recreation Center located at 647 N. San Vicente Boulevard and on display from Monday, March 20, 2023 through March 2024. Digital art is also currently on display now through Wednesday, May 31, 2023 on billboards on the Sunset Strip. Kassaram (Adapted) by Thania Petersen examines how embedded clichés devalue culture and provide the framework for the permission of subjugation. It is on display at the Streamlined Arbor Billboard located at 9157 Sunset Boulevard Billboard. Reverse Women by Sarah Rara illustrates how hope and progress for women’s rights are walked back, as a woman’s personal freedom is reversed to gone. It is on display at the Invisible Frame Billboard located at 8743 Sunset Boulevard. This project is presented as part of the Moving Image Media Art Program (MIMA). The West Hollywood Moving Image Media Art Program (MIMA) is an exhibition series administered by the Arts Division, as part of its Art on the Outside program, and is presented with the Sunset Arts and Advertising Program.
A full schedule of City of West Hollywood events and meetings is available at www.weho.org/calendar.
For more information about Women’s History Month in the City of West Hollywood, please contact Larissa Fooks, the City of West Hollywood’s Community Programs Coordinator, at (323) 848-6413 or at lfooks@weho.org. For people who are Deaf or hard of hearing, please call TTY (323) 848-6496.
When are we going to have Men’s History Month? In this Woke nightmare called the so-called creative City?
They have Pride. That’s ~90% men (10% meth by volume)