University of Wyoming Honors Women’s Role in the State’s History With a New Sculpture

The University of Wyoming has commissioned a new sculpture honoring the contributions women have made to the state’s history. Wyoming was the first state to give women the right to vote, serve on juries, and to hold public office.

Artist D. Michael Thomas working on the sculpture.

The new sculpture, the work of Wyoming artist D. Michael Thomas, will be placed on permanent display in the north courtyard of the university’s Gateway Center. It will feature a woman rider on horseback breaking through a sandstone wall. When completed and installed, the sculpture will stand almost 16 feet tall and be almost 8 feet wide. The sandstone wall will be more than 20 feet tall and 17 feet wide.

Ben Blalock, president of the University of Wyoming Foundation, stated that the sculpture “represents how Wyoming has been defined through the years through women who have broken through and who have made an important difference in our society, and certainly continue to play a key role in the advancement of the University of Wyoming.”