Captain Kathryn Janeway, the fearless leader of the USS Voyager in "Star Trek: Voyager," now has a permanent home in Indiana.
The bold captain, who is a fan favorite throughout the franchise, has been memorialized in a statue that now stands in the city of Bloomington, the character's birthplace. Actor Kate Mulgrew, who portrayed Janeway for seven seasons on "Voyager," attended the unveiling of the statue virtually this past weekend.
"I’m not often rendered speechless, but in this moment I am," Kate Mulgrew said of the monument and impact Janeway's legacy has had on fans. "It’s a wonderful comment on Janeway's legacy … To realize that Janeway has had such an important role in your lives, and I think in cultural history, it not only terribly affecting for me, but makes me want to go forth in a new way."
"This recognition is something extraordinary to me and I am deeply proud to be honored in this way," she added.
Related: 'Star Trek: Prodigy' recruits Kate Mulgrew, 'Voyager's' Captain Janeway
A fan group called the Captain Janeway Bloomington Collective is behind the statue, which is a bronze bust of the Trek character with the text "Future Birthplace of Captain Kathryn Janeway, Bloomington Indiana, Earth, May 20, 2336.". The monument, which resides on the B-Line Trail next to the WonderLab Museum in downtown Bloomington, was unveiled to a crowd (both online and in-person) on Saturday (Oct. 24), including Mulgrew Trek fans who watched online in a Facebook Live video of the ceremony.
The Collective launched a successful campaign to raise funds and build the statue in 2019. The project really started gaining traction after it partnered with local Bloomington non-profit organization Artisan Alley, an industrial workshop and creative workspace. Artisan Alley connected the fan group to artists and professionals that enabled the ultimate success of the campaign, Josh Dinner, the communication and design lead for the Captain Janeway Bloomington Collective, told Space.com.
"One of the show's executive producers, Jeri Taylor, has roots in Bloomington and wrote the city as Janeway's hometown. The Collective chose to honor Janeway with this monument for her leadership, and the role model she became for so many girls and women in STEM [science, technology, engineering and math] fields today," Dinner told Space.com.
"Having spent the past two years designing, fundraising, and planning for the monument and its unveiling, members of the collective and fans in attendance (of which there were over 250) were thrilled to have the character's actress, Kate Mulgrew, in virtual attendance via Zoom. Her reaction was one of thrill and admiration. Eager to speak with the bust's sculptor, Aaron Eby, she expressed her sincerest gratitude and said he captured Janeway's likeness perfectly," he added.
Mulgrew will return to her role as Capt. Janeway soon as she will voice the character for the upcoming Nickelodeon animated series "Star Trek: Prodigy.
Email Chelsea Gohd at cgohd@space.com or follow her on Twitter @chelsea_gohd. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
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