Women of Klamath
Alleyway Art Activation
Vote is now Open!
We are expanding the Women of Klamath Alleyway Art Activation to include two additional pieces, and we need your input on who these pieces should represent.
Nominations September 1st - 30th
Voting October 1st - 20th
Selection October 20th - 31st
Artist RFP Released November 1st
We need your help deciding the next women inspirations to share with our Alleyway Art Activation!
CAST YOUR VOTE DOWN BELOW
Each nominee should be considered individually and without bias, based on the strength and significance of their contributions to our community. Nominees were selected using the following criteria: a strong connection to Klamath County, demonstrated accomplishments, community impact, lasting significance, and the ability to inspire others. All nominations and submitted information were also fact-checked to help ensure an accurate representation of each nominee’s story. As you make your selections, we encourage you to consider: Would this person’s story educate, inspire, or challenge someone who sees their mural? Think beyond familiarity and consider whose story has the power to leave a lasting impression on our community.
The Nominees Are
Impact: Civic Leadership, Healthcare
Dr. Stephanie Van Dyke was a passionate advocate for making health and wellness a community priority. Alongside Dr. Katherine Pope, she helped establish the foundation for the Sky Lakes Wellness Center and played a key role in developing what became the Healthy Klamath Coalition and Blue Zones Project. Her approach went beyond treating illness—she believed prevention, physical activity, healthy food, and the environments where people live should all be part of improving community health. Her work helped inspire projects and partnerships that made healthier choices more accessible throughout Klamath County, leaving a lasting legacy that continues to shape the community today.
Stephanie Van Dyke
Impact: Civic Leadership, Community Service, Social Change, Story Telling, Arts, Culture, & Creativity
Lucy Thompson (1856–1932), a Yurok woman also known by her Yurok name Che-na-wah Weitch-ah-wah, was an author, storyteller, and cultural historian whose work helped preserve the history, traditions, and perspectives of her people. Born in the Klamath River village of Pecwan, she wrote To the American Indian: Reminiscences of a Yurok Woman in 1916 with the goal of preserving stories and knowledge that might otherwise have been lost or overlooked.
Thompson used her voice to challenge misconceptions about Indigenous people, document the violence and injustice experienced by Native communities, and advocate for the continued stewardship of the Klamath River and its salmon. Her work provided an important Indigenous perspective at a time when Native voices were rarely represented in written history. Decades after her death, her book received the American Book Award in 1992, recognizing the lasting cultural and literary significance of her work.
Lucy Thompson
Impact: Mentorship, Healthcare, Advocacy, Family & Youth, Breaking Barriers, Unsung Heroes
Patty has dedicated more than 40 years to Klamath Basin Behavioral Health, where her commitment to supporting others has made a lasting impact. She teaches peer support classes, has opened her home to foreign exchange students, and is affectionately known by her coworkers as their “mother hen”—always there with guidance, encouragement, or a listening ear. Patty’s generosity extends far beyond her workplace, and she consistently gives her time, compassion, and care to those around her. Her decades of service and genuine commitment to others exemplify the kind of person who strengthens a community simply by being part of it.
Patty Card
Impact: Civic Leadership, Community Service, Mentorship, Healthcare, Social Change, Family & Youth, Story Telling, Breaking Barriers, Unsung Heroes
Trish Seiler has spent decades making a lasting difference in Klamath County and throughout Oregon. She developed and directed Klamath County’s first Women’s Crisis Center and served 16 years on the Klamath Falls City Council. A self-taught grant writer, Trish has taught grant-writing classes throughout the community and across Oregon, while securing funding for transformative local projects—including the Klamath Basin Behavioral Health campus on the former Eldorado Hotel site and an ADA-accessible playground at Conger Elementary School.
Trish has also been a strong advocate for disability rights and was instrumental in recruiting the Sanford Children’s Clinic to Klamath Falls, serving as keynote speaker at its groundbreaking. A passionate, determined, and hardworking community leader, Trish leads with integrity and consistently turns her advocacy into action. Her decades of service have touched countless lives, making her a remarkable example of a woman who has helped shape a stronger and more inclusive Klamath County.
Trish Seiler
Impact: Civic Leadership, Philanthropy, Entrepreneurship, Arts, Culture, & Creativity
Kendall Bell has spent more than a decade bringing people together and helping make Klamath County a better place. Through her leadership with the Klamath Falls Downtown Association, she has supported downtown beautification, community events such as Third Thursday and Scarecrow Row, and the flower basket program that brightens our streets each summer. Her dedication has helped make downtown more welcoming for residents, visitors, and local businesses. She also inspired me to get involved and supported me in launching the Klamath Piano Project and Greetings from Klamath mural. Her story deserves to be celebrated for both the work she has done and the people she has encouraged along the way.
Kendall Bell
Impact: Civic Leadership/ Public Service
Sabrina Garcia is a Klamath County community leader, advocate, and enrolled member of the Klamath Tribes whose work has made a significant impact in behavioral health, harm reduction, and recovery. Through her work with Transformations Wellness Center and PRIME+, Sabrina has advocated for accessible, low-barrier services and supported people experiencing substance use, behavioral health challenges, and homelessness. Her peer-support work is grounded in lived experience, allowing her to connect with people in ways that reduce stigma and build trust.
Sabrina’s leadership extends beyond Klamath County. She served as a Tri-Chair of Oregon’s Measure 110 Oversight and Accountability Council, helping shape statewide funding and services for treatment and recovery, and has continued advocating for rural and tribal communities in Oregon’s behavioral health system. Locally, she serves as a co-chair of Klamath County’s Local Alcohol and Drug Planning Committee and remains actively involved in community health and recovery efforts.
Sabrina Garcia
Impact: Public Service, Community Service, Education, Social Change, Family & Youth, Breaking Barriers, Athletics, Other Significant Achievement
Laura has dedicated more than 20 years to supporting the youth of Klamath Falls through education, athletics, and community involvement. After years as a teacher, including teaching robotics and supporting local youth softball, she recently stepped into a vice principal role at Peterson Elementary School. Her commitment to helping young people extends beyond the classroom, as she is continually involved in activities and opportunities that encourage and support Klamath Falls youth.
Laura also exemplifies what it means to be a caring neighbor. She maintains a beautiful garden on Eldorado Street and regularly shares its bounty with those around her, including giving neighbors fresh vegetables from her garden. She is always willing to lend a hand, whether helping an elderly neighbor with home upkeep and tree trimming or simply being there when someone needs assistance. Outside of work, Laura enjoys hunting with her son and their trained Labrador retrievers. Through her career, community involvement, and everyday acts of kindness, Laura has built a reputation as someone who is always on the go, always helping, and always looking for ways to make her community better.
Laura Knickerson
Cast your vote:
Pick your top 3 candidates for the next installation of the Women of Klamath Alleyway Art Activation!
*Please do not select the same woman more than once. We will not count duplicate votes in the same pool.
See Previous project work:
A partnership between Healthy Klamath and Virtuosa Society
The “Women of Klamath”, Alleyway Activation Project Phase 3 was a collaboration between Healthy Klamath and Virtuosa Society to celebrate the women who helped shape the Klamath community into what it is today. The 8 women featured in these beautiful murals were chosen for their impact on the wellbeing and growth of the Klamath Basin over the past 160 years.
“Their collective contributions make up the cornerstones of our community.”
We were elated to see so many people join us for the unveiling ceremony for these murals, including two of the women depicted in The Philanthropists, Jean Pinninger and Joan Staunton. Family members of Janice Lee York Romary, Marie Norris, Nancy Wendt, Jean Pinninger & Joan Staunton were also in attendance, as well as families and friends of the artists.
Special thanks to Rich & Tammy Bogatay for donating the side of their building for the mural installation, and Diversified Contractors, Inc for building the frames and installing the murals. It was such a pleasure collaborating with Healthy Klamath & Kelsey Mueller Wendt on this beautiful project.
The women who answered the call for mural artists come from all walks of life and share a deep appreciation for both the arts and the women honored in this project. Their work is now on display in downtown Klamath Falls.
Thank you to those who came out to celebrate the installation with us! If you have not done so yet, please do take the time to walk downtown, see the art and honor the contribution of these amazing, strong women to our community:
“The Chieftess” - Winema – which means “woman chief” – earned her name in the 1850s when as a teen she saved a canoe full of children from being dashed in strong rapids by steering it to safety. Such deeds continued throughout her life, and her courageous actions as a mediator during the Modoc War brought about lasting peace.
“The Olympian” - Janice-Lee York Romary made history as the first female Olympian to carry the United States flag during an opening ceremony. A decorated foil fencing champion, she competed in six consecutive Olympic Games, and upon retirement from the sport, chose to build both a family and a business in Klamath Falls.
“The President” - Dr. Martha Ann Dow led Oregon Institute of Technology as its first female president between 1998–2007. Dow’s leadership helped the school transition from its vocational roots into the future, shaping the Oregon Renewable Energy Center and the Oregon Center of Health Professions which houses Oregon Tech’s health sciences programs. It was renamed the Martha Anne Dow Center for Health Professions in her honor.
“The Activist” - Marie Norris pursued a life of active service for her Klamath community. In addition to founding the Organization of Forgotten Americans in 1969 to address the effects of tribal termination, Norris was a devoted advocate for Native American culture and was one of the last people able to speak the Klamath language. Oregon Governor Vic Atiyeh declared Norris as one of the most outstanding women in Oregon history.
“The Intrepid Photographer” - Maud Baldwin’s legacy as an intrepid photographer can be seen throughout the murals peppered along our downtown streets, and in the thousands of images she captured of the growth of Klamath County in the early twentieth century, including tribal life, loggers, ranchers, Crater Lake, street scenes, paddlewheel steamboats, school children, wildlife, reclamation projects, and the excitement surrounding the first trains, automobiles and airplanes in Klamath Falls!
“The Philanthropists” - Nancy Wendt, Jean Pinninger and Joan Staunton’s collaborative philanthropic work help sustain and grow many of the community assets we all enjoy today. Together, they raised millions to support the Ross Ragland Theater, Klamath Community College, The YMCA, Mike’s Field House, The Martha Anne Dow Center for Health Professions, the Sky Lakes Cancer Treatment Center, The United Way, and more.
The Alleyway Activation Project was started in 2022 and since then, Healthy Klamath has been able to install 8 beautiful pieces of art on the exterior wall of a building downtown thanks to the AARP 2022 Community Challenge grant.
The Alleyway Activation Project is designed to beautify our alleyways in the downtown corridor of Klamath Falls. Recruiting from our abundantly creative regional community, a selected artist’s work will be mounted to one of the historical buildings off the main street. This is an opportunity to be a part of the effort to make Klamath Falls a livelier and beautiful place.
If you take the time to take a photo with the murals that are currently up please tag us on your Instagram. @Healthyklamath
Get in touch.
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