Women’s Way Grand Rapids
An Alley Activation Initiative Highlighting Impactful Women of Grand Rapids
The Women’s Way Initiative aspires to elevate the historical narratives of exceptional local leaders while adding new energy and creative interest to often-overlooked public places.
The initiative also boldly endeavors to acknowledge the complicated history of women in alleyways and help claim positive ownership of these spaces.
Organized by Downtown Grand Rapids Inc., the Greater Grand Rapids Women’s History Council, the City of Grand Rapids, Lions & Rabbits and numerous community partners.
The Alleyways
See the Most Recent Work in the Women’s Way Collection
Harriet Woods Hill Way
Located in the alley off Louis St. NW at the northwest corner of GRPD headquarters.
Harriet Woods Hill
1922-2006
Harriet Woods Hill in 1955 became the first African American female officer in the Grand Rapids Police Department. Her career began in the Juvenile Division, and she later trained new recruits about the challenges faced by children. Hill, in 1977, was named the first female detective in the department’s 106-year history. “I came there to do a job, and I wasn’t going to allow [anyone] to force me to quit working because [of their] prejudices,” she said. “Once the door was opened, I never allowed it to become closed.”
Statement by Artist Jasmine Bruce
Harriet Woods-Hill was resilient and humble. Symbolism flows through this piece as waves pay ode to Harriet’s hometown leading to the old-time Grand Rapids cityscape. Lotus flowers symbolize her growth out of muddy waters, all the while soaring above.
Grand Rapids Chicks Way
Located in the alley off Newberry St. NW behind Auto Fixit Body Shop.
Grand Rapids Chicks
1945 – 1954
The All American Girls Professional Baseball League organized during World War II and fielded ten popular teams in the Midwest. The 600 women players suffered the rigors of the road as well as charm school, played in lipstick and slid into base in short skirts. The Grand Rapids Chicks played from 1945 to 1954, consistently appeared in the playoffs and won two championships. Their trading cards circulate again today because players, ignored by baseball history, took matters into their own hands and formed an association in the 1980s. Their efforts inspired the 1992 film A League of Their Own.
Statement by Artist Michi Farias
This team is a local example of women’s perseverance through the hardships of World War II. Their story is about pushing through societal expectations towards the women who pioneered all-female teams in sports. Young women and men need to see female athletes from the past as they were — pioneers in the realm of professional athleticism that pushed through the obstacles they faced.
Ethel Coe Way
Located in alley off Monroe Ave NW on the north side of 20 Monroe Live.
Ethel B. Coe
1899-1988
Ethel B. Coe was born in Virginia in 1899 - 30 years after the Civil War - and moved to Grand Rapids at age eight. Coe won a civil rights case while attending South High School after she was refused service at a local ice cream parlor. Throughout her life, Coe was active in the NAACP, Urban League, Family Life Council and many other clubs. At the age of 68, Coe traveled the U.S. and abroad as a volunteer teaching English to Latino and Vietnamese children. She was also a singer and actress who performed for more than 40 years in venues like Civic Theatre and St. Cecilia Music Society.
Statement by Artist Esan Sommersell
This portrait, titled “The Amazing Coe,” represents the balance of society and creativity. As a sign of hope for all creators, the portrait serves as a beacon in the present and future times. This comic book technique shows Coe as the hero she is, and the descriptive words provide action, fitting her activist lifestyle.
Angeline Kelsey "Naw Kay o say" Yob Way
Located in the alley off Sheldon Blvd NE between the Grand Rapids Children’s Museum and The Apartment Lounge.
Angeline Kelsey "Naw Kay o say" Yob
1924-2002
The descendant and ancestor of Chiefs, Angeline Kelsey “Naw Kay o say” Yob was an educator, community activist and citizen of the Grand River Bands of Ottawa Indians. She was the great, great-granddaughter of Chief Maish Ke Aw She, one of the signatories of the Treaty of 1855, which provided the terms for the removal of the Ottawa from the Grand River Valley.
Yob, at the age of five, experienced her own forced move to a Native American Boarding School. Still, she retained her native language and would go on to help lead the Native American Education Program at Grand Rapids Public Schools. For three decades, she used stories as teaching instruments to help students of Native American descent learn and grow in their traditions.
Statement by Artist Alan Compo
Angeline Kelsey Yob helped establish many of the first groups for the Grand Rapidian Native Americans. The turtle shows all the Grand River Bands of Ottawa Indians. The kids dancing represent the culture, and the knowledge that Angeline brought children. I placed her portrait within the medicine wheel because of the constant lessons within.
Maurilia Ortiz Blakely Way
Located in the alley off Fulton St. W next to San Chez Bistro
Maurilia Ortiz Blakely | 1928 – 2015
Maurilia Ortiz Blakely was a role model, a champion for minority women’s rights, an activist for the poor and an advocate for higher education.
Orphaned at an early age, her maternal aunt raised her to have great respect for their Mexican heritage and to help the less fortunate. A divorced working mother of five, Blakely was a force in her community and helped organize Grand Rapids’ first Mexican Festival in 1970.
After graduating from college with a degree in Social Work at age 51, she assisted Latinx students, women, migrants, the homeless, and the unemployed and helped to establish the Hispanic Institute. Among her many honors was a Grand Rapids Lifetime Achievement Award.
Statement by Artist Arturo Romero
This portrait of Maurilia “Molly” Ortiz Blakely intends to depict her strength as a woman, her humility and the pride she had for her culture, family and community. I was inspired by her ability to command respect while encouraging love as well as her perseverance to help others reach for the stars.
Dr. Ella Mary Sims Way
21 Weston St. SE
Ella Mary Sims | 1923 - 2013
*Historical bio and artist statement coming soon
Alley Locations
Harriet Woods Hill Way | Grand Rapids Police Department
1 Monroe Center St NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49503
Grand Rapids Chicks Way | Auto Fixit Shop
805 Ottawa Ave NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49503
Ethel Coe Way | 20 Monroe Live
11 Ottawa Ave NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49503
Angelina Kelsey “Naw Kay o Say” Yob Way | Children’s Museum
33 Sheldon Ave NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49503
Maurilia Ortiz Blakely Way | San Chez
38 Fulton St W, Grand Rapids, MI 49503
Dr. Ella Mary Sims Way | Weston Apartments
21 Weston St SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49503
Introducing
The Artists of Women’s Way
Jasmine Bruce
Jasmine Bruce is a fine artist whose work emphasizes the healing power of creating. Based in Grand Rapids, MI she obtained her BFA from Grand Valley State University. While creating her mural for Harriet Woods Hill she intends to honor her legacy and the impact she had in our community.
Bruce painted the mural of Harriet Woods Hill in the alley off Louis St. NW.
Michi Farias
Michi Farias is a Venezuelan-American artist who specializes in realistic oil paintings, watercolors, murals, ink drawings, charcoal, and resin works. Her work is often environmental, her interest reflects bringing awareness to the human connection to nature.
Farias painted the mural of the Grand Rapids Chicks 1945 Baseball Team in the alley off Newberry St. NW.
Alan Compo
Alan Compo is an Anishinaabe artist from the Grand River Bands of Ottawa Indians. Born and raised in Grand Rapids, MI, he has focused much of his time into creating to heal. He believes art is a gift that can help inspire conversation and movement. Always a student, he is eager to learn, grow, and build where his art shall bring him.
Compo painted the mural of Angeline Kelsey “Naw Kay o say” Yob in the alley off Sheldon Blvd NE.
Esan Sommersell
For artist Esan Sommersell, making is living. In a world where it’s become increasingly more difficult to discern fact from fiction, Sommersell’s paintings remind us that what we see, hear, touch, and taste cannot be separated from what we feel. With bold forms and surreal color palettes taken from the landscape of lucid dreams, his work is an affirmation of humankind’s innate desire to create, to mold, to touch the raw nerve of experience and discover for ourselves what it means to be alive.
Sommersell painted the mural of Ethel Coe in the alley off Monroe Ave.
Arturo Romero
Arturo “Art” Morales Romero was born in Guerrero, Mexico and was among the first in his family to emigrate to the United States. Romero started painting at the age of six. His artwork is inspired by his love for his wife and children, his culture and his life struggles. Some of his work is displayed in local restaurants such as MeXo and Lindo Mexico.
During his childhood years at Visalia, California, elementary, he worked in the fields picking oranges, grapes, olives, peaches, tangerines and plums while attending elementary and middle schools. After graduating from Redwood High School in 1997l, he studied art at the College of the Sequoias. In 2001, he moved to North Carolina and attended Forsyth Technical Community College studying automotive technology, custom fabrication, custom paint and auto body repairs. He moved to Grand Rapids with his family in 2014.
Dustin Hunt
*Artist bio coming soon.
Organized By
A closer look at the work in progress
Women’s Way Photo Archive
