A group of those who were impacted by the late iconic Pueblo dance instructor Sarah Shaw want to put up a bronze statue of her likeness in front of Memorial Hall and received City Council's blessing to do so.

Becky Cafasso, chair of the Sarah Shaw Memorial Committee, presented the plan to council at its work session Monday night.

She said the committee wants to build the statue and have it stand outside Memorial Hall where Shaw and her students put on countless numbers of performances for the community.

"We felt like there needs to be a tribute to Sarah in this community," Cafasso said to council. "I don't know how many dancers she actually taught but there were thousands of them. She knew how to relate to her students, she knew how to relate to parents and the community, and she taught students skills related to dance, but also integrity, dedication, hard work, and teamwork."

Cafasso said about $35,000 needs to be raised for the statue and that the committee will raise monies for the entire cost. The committee already has about half of the money that it needs.

The statue will be built and designed by Rick Willits, a local bronze artist, and will stand at about 5 feet, 8 inches tall.

Cafasso asked City Council for its blessing to put the statue in front of Memorial Hall once it is finished, and council unanimously agreed to do so. Cafasso said she hopes the statue will be up and in place by May, but it may take until December 2020.

Councilman Chris Nicoll said that he'd like to see the city contribute some money for the project from council's contingency fund, even though that wasn't asked of them.

"This is a great idea," he said.

Councilman Mark Aliff agreed.

"I support this wholeheartedly," he said. "I never met Sarah Shaw, but I know who she is and I know without a doubt how many lives she's touched. This seems like a no-brainer to me."

Shaw died in April.

She taught dance in Pueblo for 56 years and had a positive impact on the thousands of students she taught during that time, according to those who knew her.

When she died, The Chieftain received dozens of letters from former students and those who knew her about what Shaw meant to them.

rseverance@chieftain.com

Twitter: RyanSevvy