The artist creating a memorial honoring women veterans in Eden Park says he hopes it will connect with people on an individual level.
Toledo-based sculptor Austen Brantley is in Cincinnati this week to visit the site of the future memorial and meet with project backers.
"I have been a sculptor for over 10 years professionally now, and I have never done something quite like this," Brantley says. "This sculpture ... I hope to be very, very intimate."
The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in Ohio (NSCDA-Ohio) selected Brantley from a pool of more than 60 applicants to craft a memorial to women veterans that will replace a forgotten monument and since-removed tree that were dedicated in 1985. It will be in Eden Park near the Vietnam War Memorial on Victory Parkway, across from the Twin Lakes area.
The design isn't public yet, but Brantley and the Dames have released a few details.
"There are four women who are portrayed in it, who represent different eras of military service that women provided for our country," explains Kathryn Dierckes, recording secretary with the NSCDA-Ohio Board of Managers. "You are able to walk up to them. You can look them in the eye. You can put a hand on her shoulder. You can put a hand on her hand."
"It does not look anything like traditional memorial sculpture, where there's people just standing at attention or whatever," she adds.
Brantley says the four women in the sculpture aren't based on specific historical figures, though he will use live models in the process.
"I use people that would capture the essence of what I'm trying to say," he says. "We're going for something very diverse."
Dierckes says the design was reviewed by curators at the Women's Military Memorial in Washington D.C., who offered feedback on historical accuracy.
"It went down to fine granular detail, like there were buttons on the wrong part of a lapel, she explains. "They have taken a look at it, so we know what is being sculpted is historically accurate for the period that the women represent."
She says the figures will portray women from four major war eras, though she didn't specify which wars.
Once completed, the memorial will be adjacent to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Eden Park. Veteran Lee Watson says he likes that the new monument will keep the memory of Vietnam-era vets alive, too.
"Some may forget that the Vietnam veterans had a role in American history, but as long as people are coming to see the women, they're going to come to see the Vietnam era veterans," he says.
The idea for a women's memorial arose in 2025 after members of Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA), Chapter 10, noticed a hidden marker honoring women veterans on the ground while preparing for their annual Memorial Day ceremony at the Vietnam War memorial.
They reached out to the Dames about creating a new memorial, and the group quickly agreed it would become one of the chapter's America 250 projects.
A design rendering is scheduled to be unveiled at the VVA, Chapter 10 Veterans Day commemoration in Eden Park on Nov. 11. Then the design will be fully unveiled on National Women Veterans Recognition Day June 12, 2027.
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