Michel joins Women Remembered exhibit
Ouita Michel is the newest inductee to the Kentucky Women Remembered exhibit, a portrait gallery honoring extraordinary Kentucky women throughout the history of the commonwealth.
Gov. Andy Beshear joined Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman and the Kentucky Commission on Women in November for the announcement.
Commission members unanimously recommended Michel, of Lexington, to Beshear for his consideration to be added to the exhibit. The chef has been nominated for eight James Beard awards and has been featured on the Food Network and the Cooking Channel, and in The New York Times and Southern Living. She and her husband, Chris, own six restaurants in Kentucky. Her restaurants have purchased more than $3 million in Kentucky dairy, meat, fruits and vegetables.
Active in her community, Michel is a founding board member of Food Chain, a Lexington nonprofit food incubator; a board member of Hindman Settlement School, which is dedicated to enriching central Appalachian culture; and a member of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence, a statewide group working to improve education for Kentuckians.
With the closure of the Kentucky State Capitol last year for renovations, the commission partnered with the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives to catalog all portraits and brief biographies of each inductee. The virtual exhibit can now be found at women.ky.gov/kywomenremembered.
