Virginia Women’s Monument to be completed by early 2020

RICHMOND, VA (WWBT) - A new granite plaza featuring statues of 12 prominent Virginia women will be in place at the Virginia State Capitol by early 2020, according to the sculptor.

Visitors can stop by to learn about the accomplishments Virginia women have made throughout history, but there’s also room to recognize the work young Virginia women are doing right now.

The Virginia Capitol Foundation announced the four statues for the "Voices from the Garden: The Virginia Women's Monument" were fully funded earlier this summer. Each of the 12 statues requires $200,000 to be sculpted and created.

“We will add 12 bronze statues ... 200 women ... and there’s some blank space to honor the women of the future," Mary Margaret Whipple, of Virginia Women’s Monument Commission, said.

Here is a list of the 12 women to featured in the monument:

Ann Burras Laydon (c. 1594-after 1625) Jamestown
Cockacoeske (fl. 1656- d. 1686) Jamestown
Mary Draper Ingles (c.1732-1815)-Southwest Virginia
Martha Dandridge Custis Washington (1731-1802)-Fairfax
Clementina Bird Rind (1740-1774)-Williamsburg
Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley (1818-1907)-Dinwiddie
Sally Louisa Tompkins (1833-1916)-Mathews Co
Maggie L. Walker (1864-1934)-Richmond
Sarah G. Boyd Jones (1866-1905)-Richmond
Laura Lu Copenhaver (1868-1940)- Smyth Co./Marion
Virginia Estelle Randolph (1875-1958) – Henrico
Adele Goodman Clark (1882-1983)-Richmond

Ivan Schwartz, founder of StudioEis and the monument’s sculptor, also crafted the Thomas Jefferson statue at the capitol.

Schwartz says this women’s project is the largest monument dedicated to the achievements of women in the United States.

“We’re in the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment and the right of women to vote in this country," Schwartz said. “It strikes me as being extremely symbolic in this year.”

He says a project of this magnitude takes about two years. The new monument should be complete by the end of 2019 or early 2020.

Additional information can be found on the Monument Commission’s website.