Forward Statue
30 N Carroll St, Madison, WI
Madison, WI
A striding bronze woman who has come to stand for Wisconsin itself, arm raised toward the future her state motto promises.
Wisconsin's state motto is a single word, Forward, and no image captures it better than the bronze woman who has borne that name for well over a century. She stands at the edge of the State Capitol grounds in Madison, robes flowing, one arm lifted and her whole body leaning into a stride, an allegory of a young state pressing hopefully into the future.
The statue's own story is as compelling as its symbolism. It was created in the 1890s by Jean Pond Miner, a young Wisconsin sculptor still in her twenties, for the state's exhibit at the great Chicago World's Fair of 1893. That a woman artist of that era was chosen to embody the ambitions of an entire state makes Forward a quiet landmark of both art and history.
What Guests Love
- A striding, forward-leaning bronze that captures the spirit of the state motto in a single gesture
- The story of Jean Pond Miner, the young woman who sculpted it in the 1890s
- Its perch on the Capitol Square, a natural stop on a walk around downtown Madison
- Seeing it against the great white dome of one of the country's grandest capitols
Worth Knowing
- The statue outdoors is a bronze replica; the fragile original is preserved indoors to protect it from the weather
- It anchors the Capitol Square, home to a large seasonal farmers market that draws big crowds
- The Capitol building itself offers free tours if you want to pair the statue with the interior
- Downtown parking is tight on market days, so arriving early or on foot is easier
Details
Madison, WI
Learn about Forward Statue
A statue for a young state's motto
Wisconsin adopted Forward as its motto in the 1850s, a plain and optimistic word meant to capture a frontier state's drive and ambition. When the World's Columbian Exposition opened in Chicago in 1893, Wisconsin wanted an image to represent that spirit, and the result was a female figure, robed and striding, embodying progress and aspiration.
The pose is all motion. The figure leans into a step, one arm raised, garments swept back as if by a wind of momentum. She is not a specific person but an idea made visible, the notion that a young state and its people are always pressing ahead. Over the decades she became so identified with Wisconsin that Forward is now as much her name as the motto she illustrates.
Jean Pond Miner, the sculptor
The artist behind Forward was Jean Pond Miner, a Wisconsin-raised sculptor still in her twenties when she took on the commission. For a young woman in the 1890s to be entrusted with representing an entire state at a world's fair was remarkable, and she rose to it, producing a work of confidence and grace that would outlive its original occasion.
Miner's achievement is a reminder that some of the era's public art was shaped by women whose names history nearly lost. Forward stands not only for the state's ambitions but for hers, a young artist who made something lasting at the start of her career and left Wisconsin an enduring emblem.
From the World's Fair to the Capitol Square
After the Chicago fair, the statue came home to Wisconsin and eventually took its place on the Capitol grounds in Madison, where it has watched over the Square for generations. Decades of Wisconsin weather, however, took a toll on the original bronze, and to protect it the fragile figure was moved indoors and a faithful replica set in its place outdoors.
That is the version most visitors meet today, standing at the King Street corner of the Capitol lawn, dome rising white behind her. The original survives, cared for out of the elements, so that the image endures in both its historic form and its public one, a small lesson in how communities preserve the art they cherish.
The Capitol Square and downtown Madison
The statue sits on the grounds of the Wisconsin State Capitol, whose enormous white dome dominates the Madison skyline and rises at the center of the narrow isthmus dividing Lakes Mendota and Monona. The land here is the ancestral home of the Ho-Chunk Nation, whose effigy mounds still shape the surrounding landscape and whose presence long predates the city.
The Capitol Square that rings the building is the civic heart of Madison, home to a famous farmers market that circles the Capitol in warm months and to a dense cluster of museums, restaurants, and shops. Forward makes an easy anchor for a walk around downtown, a small landmark with a large idea behind it.
Closest Boutels
The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.
Things to Do Near Madison
Wisconsin State Capitol
At the statue
One of the grandest state capitols in the country, its white granite dome open for free guided tours.
Monona Terrace
About half a mile, a short walk
A lakeside convention and community center realized from a Frank Lloyd Wright design, with a rooftop garden overlooking Lake Monona.
State Street
Beginning at the Square
A pedestrian street of shops, cafes, and street musicians linking the Capitol to the University of Wisconsin campus.