Gov. Mike DeWine and a crowd of state dignitaries grabbed shovels Wednesday to break ground on the Ohio Women’s Monument at the south plaza of the Ohio Statehouse in downtown Columbus. It will be the Statehouse’s first monument explicitly dedicated to women, a milestone DeWine called “long, long overdue,” adding, “I think we can all agree that this monument is long, long overdue. It's about time.” The plan is for the installation to serve both as a memorial and as an on-site classroom for the waves of students who visit Capitol Square each year.
The monument is slated for the Statehouse’s south plaza and is designed as four columns topped with sculptures. The columns will carry the names of influential Ohio women alongside dates marking key moments in the history of women’s rights and freedoms. The commission behind the project grew out of bipartisan legislation passed in 2019, and State Sen. Stephanie Kunze said organizers want “women to see themselves and their accomplishments represented in public spaces,” describing the effort as a move to close a visible representation gap, as reported by Cleveland.com.
Design and the artist
Artist Brenda Councill has been putting the finishing touches on the bronze figures at a studio in Zanesville, spending the weeks leading up to the ceremony refining facial features and how the figures interact with each other. Axios visited Councill’s studio and reports that she intentionally left one of the four pillars symbolically empty, a decision meant to “pass the torch” to future generations rather than literally place women on pedestals. The groupings feature suffragists and a young girl reaching upward, details Councill says are meant to connect historic struggles for equality with current civic participation.
Funding and timeline
Organizers say supporters still need to raise about $2.5 million to fully fund the monument, though the campaign picked up serious momentum in December 2024 when an anonymous donor contributed $1 million. The Ohio Statehouse described that donation as “transformational” in its news release (Ohio Statehouse) and noted that the Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board had signed off on the project. Organizers told Cleveland.com they expect the monument to be installed on the south plaza this fall. The Statehouse also notes that the south entrance is the one most commonly used by school groups, which organizers say should put the monument near the top of the itinerary for student tours.
Why it matters
For years, Capitol Square has been lined with statues, busts and memorials that mostly celebrate men or lean on abstract symbolism. The new women’s monument is intended to widen that public story and make Ohio women visibly part of the state’s civic landscape. The Capitol Square Foundation says the installation is meant to operate both as a memorial and as an interpretive site for school visits and public events, helping build a more inclusive historical narrative for visitors (Capitol Square Foundation).
With clay and bronze figures nearing completion in Zanesville and the first dirt turned on Capitol Square, organizers say the new memorial should come into public view later this year. When it does, the Ohio Women’s Monument will stand as a deliberate correction to a civic skyline that has long been dominated by images of men.
