Couple Aims To Balance Gender Representation In Art With Bronze Statues Of Inspiring Women

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Statues honoring some of the world's most famous women are standing tall in Midtown.

It's for Women's Equality Day, marking the anniversary of women's right to vote, and two artists are taking a stance with statues, CBS2's Lisa Rozner reports.

Oprah, Jane Goodall, singer Pink and actress Nicole Kidman are just a few women represented. Ten bronze statues of inspiring females were unveiled Monday on the Avenue of the Americas between 51st and 52nd streets.

Helen Truax and Beth Brenzel work in Midtown.

"I said we gotta go look and see what it's about," Truax said.

"I love seeing them. It's about time," Brenzel said.

The street statues are part of a project called "Statues for Equality." The bronze sculptures are the work of husband-wife artist duo Gillie and Marc, based in Australia.

The couple says in New York City, less than 3% of statues are women, but these new fierce females now bump it up to 9%.

"I think it's fantastic that they have statues that are about peaceful people that do peaceful things, and I'm really sick and tired of all the statues about war," Brooklyn resident Brian Lewis said.

"Just broadcasting women, their power, not knowing what they've done and to have it out here for us to read and find out about them is great," Brooklyn resident Kishla Hankerson said.

Each statue has a description of the person's accomplishments.

One 10-year-old girl learned something new about author Cheryl Strayed.

"She wrote books in 30 languages," she said.

"I saw Gabby Douglas," Queens resident Amy Ford said. "I admire her strength so much because when I was a young girl, I wanted to be a gymnast."

This is just the beginning. The artists say their goal is to have a statue of an influential woman in every major city in every state in the next five years.

"Honestly, I was not having a good morning and I saw this and it really brightened my day," Manhattan resident Victoria Kneider said.

Displays are currently in the works in Australia and the United Kingdom.

Gillie and Marc are accepting suggestions and nominations for the next statues. You can leave your suggestions by visiting statuesforequality.com.