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An army of female scientists is heading to NorthPark’s garden — in statue form

More than 120 figures will depict real women who work in the sciences. They’re part of a powerful statement about visibility.

On May 1, NorthPark’s central garden will host a first-of-its-kind exhibit featuring life-sized 3D-printed statues of more than 120 female scientists.

The display is part of a $25 million initiative by Dallas-based Lyda Hill Philanthropies to bring more visibility to the work of female scientists and to inspire more girls to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math, the disciplines bundled under the popular acronym STEM.

When it debuts, the collection will mark the most statues of women ever assembled in one location at one time, according to the organizers of the project. It was inspired by a 2016 study that found that fewer than a half-dozen statues of women stood on public display in America’s 10 largest cities plus San Francisco and Washington, D.C.

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Statues of women are depicted in a rendering of a planned May 1 exhibition at NorthPark...
Statues of women are depicted in a rendering of a planned May 1 exhibition at NorthPark Center from the If/Then Initiative. It will be the largest collection of statues of women ever assembled in one location at one time, according to the organizers of the project.(If/Then Initiative)
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Each statue depicts one of the more than 120 science “ambassadors” selected last September by Lyda Hill’s If/Then Initiative and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Their backgrounds and careers are diverse. Among them are neuroscientists, paleontologists, sports scientists, a shark researcher, a conservation photographer and an archaeologist who tracks lost tombs in Egypt. Ten of the ambassadors are from North Texas, including Becca Peixotto, director of the Center for the Exploration of the Human Journey at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, and Nicole Sereika, an aviation maintenance technician at Southwest Airlines.

Statues of women are depicted in a rendering of a planned May 1 exhibition at NorthPark...
Statues of women are depicted in a rendering of a planned May 1 exhibition at NorthPark Center from the If/Then Initiative. It will be the largest collection of statues of women ever assembled in one location at one time, according to the organizers of the project.(If/Then Initiative)
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Many of the ambassadors have also starred in a new Saturday morning TV show on CBS, Mission Unstoppable, supported by the If/Then Initiative.

The statues will be on display in NorthPark’s 1.4-acre CenterPark Garden.