In 2019, the Board of Supervisors introduced a motion directing the Women and Girls Initiative to collaborate with the Department of Arts and Culture to commission artists to create commemorative artworks for the Centennial Celebration of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote. Six artists, including Andrea Monroe, Amy Smith, Clarence J. Williams III, Laura Vasquez Rodriguez, Moses X Ball, and Ragni Agarwal, were selected to design artwork for this project. The resulting artworks reflect a diversity of women and perspectives and highlight themes such as empowerment, civic engagement, resiliency, and the right to vote. Each artwork will be installed at various facilities throughout LA County for the public to enjoy and inspire residents to vote. The artworks were also reproduced as a limited run of posters available to the public and County departments and three designs were selected to be reproduced as limited-edition library cards and bookmarks. In her collage portrait, artist Amy Smith combines her photography with layers of hand-cut stencils and pieces of protest signage to reflect on the suffrage movement and the modern woman. By juxtaposing historic suffragette signs with contemporary portraits of diverse women, she acknowledges our past and looks to the future to do better than we did before. We evolve together, and so we rise together.

Amy Smith is a self-taught contemporary artist. Born in New Jersey, she moved to Los Angeles where she found inspiration, mentors, and support in the street art community. In her Collage Portrait Series, Amy Smith uses photography, layers of hand cut stencils, and torn recycled fashion magazine pieces to deconstruct self-identity from brand identity. Smith’s mixed media collages have been shown at Saatchi’s The Other Art Fair, Wallspace Gallery, The Whole 9 Gallery, and been part of auctions such as Julien’s Auctions with artists like Mr. Brainwash, Shepard Fairey, and Andy Warhol. Smith’s works can also be found on online galleries like SaatachiArt and Artsy.net. To learn more, visit: https://www.amysmith.art/