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Utah First Lady Jeanette Herbert, Karen Ashton, Gail Miller, and 200 other notable Utahns will join Utah Valley University President Matthew S. Holland and the Utah Women’s Walk in honoring the lives of the women who shaped Utah’s history with the unveiling of the statue “Connexion” on Saturday, Sept. 16 at 2 p.m. at Thanksgiving Point’s Ashton Gardens.
The Utah Women’s Walk commissioned local sculptor Ben Hammond to create “Connexion.” The new statue is the first of many planned to make up the Utah Women’s Walk Garden Walk.
The Utah Women’s Walk was founded by UVU professor Michele Welch. Since 2010, students have interviewed and documented the lives of Utah women as a part of the “Utah Women’s History and Biography” course. Guests visiting “Connexion” can listen to featured honoree interviews through the Utah Women’s Walk website at www.utahwomenswalk.org.
The Utah Women’s Walk currently celebrates roughly 150 honorees. Honorees include Utah’s first female governor, Olene Walker; artist Minerva Tiechert, songwriter Janice Kapp Perry; co-founder of Thanksgiving Point, Karen Ashton; Osmond family matriarch Olive Osmond; historian Susan Easton Black Durrant; philanthropist Pamela Atkinson; and Utah Justice Christine B. Durham
UVU’s Women’s Success Center has supported the Utah Women’s Walk since 2011. Both organizations came together with the goal of helping female students engage and invest in higher education. The Women’s Success Center’s mission is to help women enter and graduate from UVU, as recent studies have shown that Utah has one of the lowest graduation rates for women in the nation.
Ben Hammond will give remarks during the unveiling program, followed by a performance from One Voice Children’s Choir. The unveiling is open to the public. Regular Thanksgiving Point admission fees apply.
About Utah Women’s Walk
The purpose of the Utah Women’s Walk is to recognize and show gratitude for the lives of notable women who have made significant contributions to life in the state of Utah over the past one hundred and seventy years. The intention of this project is to educate the public about the remarkable lives of Utah women and to uplift, inspire, and motivate other women to reach for their highest potential. The Utah Women’s Walk is also meant to encourage appreciation for the variety of work in which Utah women are engaged and to demonstrate the cultural, ethnic, and religious diversity in our state.
Research for this project originated with the completion of a master’s thesis by Michele Welch in 2007, under the direction of Dr. Jan Roush and Dr. Melody Graulich at Utah State University. The project continues with students in an American Studies course at Utah Valley University. Students are interview, research, and write about the lives of significant Utah women that most inspire them.
Biographies, recordings, and transcriptions of the interviews are housed in the George Sutherland Archives at Utah Valley University. The public is invited to access the interviews at www.utahwomenswalk.org.
Fourth region (Section 1)