Celebrate trailblazing local leaders at Savannah Women of Vision recognition ceremony
Join SCAD President and Founder Paula Wallace for a ceremony celebrating Savannah Women of Vision, an elite cadre of trailblazers whose remarkable ideas, insightful leadership, and distinguished service have profoundly sculpted the city of Savannah.
2022 honorees
Linda J. Evans
Sarah Mills Hodge
Joyce Roché
Gale Singer
During the ceremony, the honorees will be extolled through prose, music, and art. As a permanent tribute, relief portraits of the women, carved by SCAD alumnus Michael Porten (M.F.A., painting, 2012; B.F.A., illustration, 2004), will adorn the walls of Arnold Hall, home of the SCAD School of Liberal Arts.
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
The university invites the public to join the celebration.
About the investiture
The genesis of President Wallace’s Savannah Women of Vision initiative, which elevates a traditionally underrepresented — and yet tremendously influential — demographic, can be traced to the grand 1930s New Deal-era mural in historic Arnold Hall theater. The mural, a visual ode to the titans of Savannah’s history, is notable in its omission of women.
By symbolically righting the historical record, Wallace honors these paragons of civic virtue to whom students — men and women alike — can look for inspiration. The university offers tours of the Savannah Women of Vision portrait installation in Arnold Hall to K–12 students and educators. A free curriculum guide provides historic context to the portrait installation.
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 at SCAD to illuminate trailblazers and their transcendent work, keeping their names and deeds not only in our hearts, but publicly acclaimed. These are our heroines.”
Linda J. Evans
A Detroit-area high school science teacher for 26 years, Linda J. Evans was instrumental in establishing the first Medical and Natural Sciences Career Academy for high school students in the Southfield Public Schools system. Evans also served as the curator and exhibition coordinator for the Walter O. Evans Collection of African American Art. In 2006, Evans and her husband, Walter, gifted more than 60 of these major works to the SCAD Museum of Art, forming the foundation of the museum’s Evans Center for African American Studies. Evans serves on the boards of various local community, civic, and charitable organizations. Her volunteerism has been recognized with the inaugural Frank Callen Service to Youth Award from the Boys & Girls Clubs and the 2014 Spirit of Advocating Award from United Way of the Coastal Empire.
Sarah Mills Hodge
(1875–1962)
Born in Savannah, Sarah Mills Hodge was a staunch advocate for the less fortunate in her community. As the beneficiary of a considerable trust from her husband, engineer Henry Wilson Hodge, she purchased and renovated a building on West Bay Street where she established the Hodge Free Kindergarten for Black children of working mothers. Hodge also established the Mills Memorial Home for elderly Black men, made generous contributions to the rebuilding of Charity Hospital, and financed the Frank Callen Boys Club building and programs, among other philanthropy. Her legacy endures in the Hodge Foundation, which has contributed more than $2 million to more than 50 community organizations. An elementary school in Savannah is also named in her honor.
Joyce Roché
(b. 1947)
Born in Iberville, La., Joyce Roché served as the president and chief operating officer of Carson, Inc. in Savannah from 1996 to 1998. Roché has also served as executive vice president of global marketing for Avon, becoming the first African American woman to hold the position, as well as the chief executive officer and president of Girls, Inc. from 2000 to 2010. Roché sits on the boards of the Savannah Economic Development Authority and The World Trade Center. She also chairs the board of the Chatham County Hospital Authority. In 2013, Roché authored The Empress Has No Clothes: Conquering Self-Doubt to Embrace Success. She received the Women of Power Legacy Award from Black Enterprise Magazine in 2006 and 2007.
Gale Singer
Gale Singer is founder and president of Circa Lighting. Prior to moving to Savannah in 1997, Singer worked for Visual Comfort & Co., the leading manufacturer of decorative lighting founded by her brother, Andy Singer. In Savannah, Singer realized her vision for a curated lighting showroom with a boutique atmosphere, leading outreach to local interior designers, architects, and builders. Today, Circa has 13 showrooms across the country, including two in Savannah, and is often found in the pages of high-end magazines such as Garden & Gun. In 2017, Singer was recognized by the American Society of Interior Designers’ Georgia Chapter.
Michael Porten
M.F.A., painting, 2012; B.F.A., illustration, 2004
To commemorate the Savannah Women of Vision and their profound impact on the community, SCAD commissioned alumnus Michael Porten to create large relief portraits of the honorees. Monumental in scale, the sculptural portraits capture the distinct likenesses of these extraordinary heroines — of both past and present — whose equally monumental contributions, resolve, and courageous spirit continue to play an integral role in shaping the lives of Savannahians.
Although the portraits are executed in classic bas-relief — a style of portraiture perfected by the ancient Greeks — Porten used advanced tools and software to sculpturally render each woman’s visage, infusing a classic medium with modern technology. Using a 3D modeling program and a computer-controlled lathe, Porten hewed each likeness into poplar, then carved and sanded by hand to a velvety smoothness. The relief portraits were then coated in an antiqued, gilded finish, forever preserving each woman’s image.
The gilded finish holds meaning, as gold traditionally represents generosity and compassion. It is the mark of benevolent patrons and those who share wisdom, knowledge, and wealth with others.
Porten was born in Indianapolis, Ind., and lives and works in Savannah. Through sculptural works and paintings, he has inscribed his own aesthetic niche, often pulling inspiration from contemporary pop culture and iconography.