Women’s Suffrage Monument Co-created by WSU Art Professor Unveiled at Utah State Capitol

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah - Framing the front steps of the Utah State Capitol building, a new monument titled “A Path Forward” commemorates the 100th anniversary of women’s right to vote in the United States and the 150th anniversary of the first ballot cast by a woman in the state of Utah.

The monument, which is a permanent installation, is featured in “Utah’s 19th Amendment Centennial Celebration,” a two-day, outdoor open house on the Utah State Capitol grounds Aug. 21 and 22. To learn more and register for the free event, visit this link.

The sculpture, commissioned by Better Days 2020, a nonprofit organized to bring awareness to women’s history, was crafted by Weber State University associate professor of art and sculptor, Jason Manley, in collaboration with Memphis University assistant professor of art and sculptor, Kelsey Harrison. 

The monument is made of bronze, stainless steel and concrete and is situated in front of the Salt Lake City Council Hall building, which is symbolic because that building is where the first female-cast ballot happened in the state of Utah. The sculpture encompasses 200 square feet, and stands 8-feet tall in places. It features a table, two chairs and four doorways, with quotes from Martha Hughes Cannon, Emmeline B. Wells, Susan B. Anthony and other women’s suffrage leaders. 

The bronze screen, composed of suffrage leaders' quotations, started from 3D printed wax and was then cast with the traditional lost-wax foundry process by Baer Bronze. One of Manley’s former students Adam Smith completed the mold-making as an employee at Baer Bronze.

“By paying tribute to these voting rights pioneers, we hope this will be a site for inspiration and congregation and to motivate voter turn-out,” Manley said. 

In an artist statement, Manley and Harrison wrote the piece reflects upon the “communal and collective struggle for equal rights.”
Manley earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Arizona and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Kansas. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally including recent exhibitions at Art Center College of Design, UMOCA, and Torrance Art Museum, with public artworks in Utah, Iowa and California. He teaches sculpture and public art  in the Telitha E. Lindquist College of Arts & Humanities at Weber State University. 

For photos, visit the following links.

wsuucomm.smugmug.com/Press-Release-Photos/2020-photos/August-2020/i-twdhZVF/A
wsuucomm.smugmug.com/Press-Release-Photos/2020-photos/August-2020/i-zSk2fXb/A
wsuucomm.smugmug.com/Press-Release-Photos/2020-photos/August-2020/i-CMLdcd8/A

Visit weber.edu/wsutoday for more news about Weber State University.

Author:

Cassie Smith, Lindquist College of Arts & Humanities marketing and public relations manager
801-450-7189 • cassiesmith1@weber.edu

Contact:

Jason Manley, associate professor of art and sculptor
801-626-6458 • jasonmanley@weber.edu