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SALT LAKE CITY — This year's state legislative body contained more women than ever before, with women accounting for 25 of the 104 lawmakers during Utah's 45-day session.
But as Matilyn Mortensen, a reporter for Cache County's Herald Journal, looked around the chamber on her first day covering the session and saw the 24% of women that make up the lawmaking body, she noticed that 24% isn't that much.
Inspired by other artists and their projects, like Ashmae Hoiland's “We Brave Women” and Brooke Smart, a local illustrator whose been commissioned by Better Days 2020, Mortensen decided she wanted to highlight the women behind the numbers.
"It kind of clicked that this could be the perfect opportunity for me to try something out like the projects I had seen,” Mortensen said.
So she set out to interview each woman and paint their portrait — all within the 45-day session. Mortensen finished each piece of artwork during the session but her last interview was the day after, she noted.
"I love the idea of using art as a way to create images of women for people to relate to,” she said.
As Mortensen took the time to paint each woman and interview them for her "Women of the Utah Legislature" project, a few things stood out to her.
“I was really struck by this when I was talking to them and asking about their stories and asking about how they had become leaders, and so many of the women just expressed that they ran because they were invited to run," she said.
Mortensen went on to explain that a lot of the women didn’t think they could run for office until a neighbor or friend or coworker encouraged them to give it a try.
“I think that is really interesting,” she added.
While Mortensen felt it was important to showcase these women, she did notice the faces that were missing as she painted the women, namely minority groups and women with differing life experiences.
“So it really made me hope that when people saw this project they would think about people that they would want to see represented in a project like that," she said. "That when they looked at it that maybe they would connect with the faces there or maybe think about faces that they wished were a part of that project.”
The "Women of the Utah Legislature" will be on display at the Millcreek Library on Thursday from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., where Rep. Sandra Hollins, D-Salt Lake City, will speak along with Holly Richardson, former member of the Utah House of Representatives and current columnist for the Salt Lake Tribune.
Mortensen’s project will also be on display at the Utah Capitol Building on Oct. 16.
To see the art project online, visit Mortensen's art Instagram page.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to show the correct date of when the art project will be displayed.
