
The Savannah Women of Vision investiture, created by SCAD President and Founder Paula Wallace, commemorates an elite cadre of women of peerless valor, altruism, and intellect. Their remarkable ideas, insightful leadership, and distinguished service weave a legacy that forms the fabric of our community.
2022 honorees
Linda J. Evans
Sarah Mills Hodge
Joyce Roché
Gale Singer
Previous honorees
Emma Morel Adler • Mother Mathilda Beasley • Mary Musgrove Matthews Bosomworth • Miriam Center • Edna Jackson • Alice Andrews Jepson • Clermont Huger Lee • Nancy N. Lewis • Juliette Gordon Low • Abigail Minis • Mary Lane Morrison • Flannery O'Connor • Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears • Suzanne Shank • Fredericka Washington • Sema Wilkes • Frances Wong

Be immersed in history
Each Savannah Women of Vision inductee is honored with a large, gilded relief portrait — hand-carved by SCAD alumnus Michael Porten (M.F.A., painting, 2012; B.F.A., illustration, 2004) — that is permanently installed on the walls of the Arnold Hall theater. Viewed together, the portraits tell stories that resonate in all Savannah neighborhoods, in all four corners of Georgia, and far beyond.
The stories of the Savannah Women of Vision are also brought to life in Etched in History, an original SCAD film narrated by celebrated actor Phylicia Rashad. Evoking the honorees' unapologetic strength and grace, Etched in History unites us all in imagining an inclusive future in which our women leaders freely thrive in glory and acclaim. View the film.
School groups and SCAD visitors are invited to tour the portrait gallery. SCAD also offers students and educators a free Savannah Women of Vision curriculum guide aligned to national education standards that explores the lasting impact of these women — paragons of civic, educational, philanthropic, and creative virtue.

About the investiture
The origins of President Wallace's Savannah Women of Vision investiture can be traced to the proscenium in the university's historic Arnold Hall, anchored by a New Deal-era mural that depicts Savannah's great forebears and leaders: Button Gwinnett, Nathanael Greene, George Whitefield, and Casimir Pulaski, among others. Wallace immediately noticed the omission of formidable, admirable women in this visual ode to the titans of Savannah. The Savannah Women of Vision investiture symbolically rights this historical wrong and establishes an inclusive view of our city.
As Wallace explains, "Savannah as we know it rests on the triumphs of its women — mothers, entrepreneurs, authors, patriots, philanthropists. I created the Savannah Women of Vision investiture to illuminate trailblazers and their transcendent work, keeping their names and deeds not only in our hearts but publicly acclaimed. These are our heroines."