Explore the Background of this artwork, Statue of Betty Campbell.
Campbell died at the age of 82 on 13 October 2017. First Minister of Wales Carwyn Jones described Campbell as "a true pioneer" and an "inspiration to other black and ethnic minority people."Race Council Cymru immediately called for a statue to be erected in her memory. In Cardiff, the only statue of a woman who actually lived was that of Boudicca in the City Hall. This contrasted with the number of statues of famous men, including Aneurin Bevan, Ivor Novello and Lloyd George. In 2016, Helen Molyneux (the Chair of the Institute of Welsh Affairs), Carolyn Hitt, and the Welsh Women's Equality Network, organised 'Monumental Welsh Women', a task force to tackle this imbalance. In 2019, the BBC ran the 'Hidden Heroines' campaign to decide who should be the subject of Cardiff's first statue of a named woman, decided by a public vote. Five women were shortlisted: the poet and teacher Cranogwen (Sarah Jane Rees), the suffragette Lady Rhondda (Margaret Haig Thomas), the political organiser Elizabeth Andrews, the writer and anthropologist Elaine Morgan, and Betty Campbell.
On 18 January 2019, it was announced that Campbell had won the vote, and that her statue would be erected in the plaza of Central Square.
Cranogwen Sarah Jane Rees suffragette Elizabeth Andrews Wales Elaine Morgan Helen Molyneux Lloyd George First Minister of Wales Boudicca Ivor Novello Institute of Welsh Affairs Aneurin Bevan Lady Rhondda Carwyn Jones Central Square Cardiff Betty Campbell BBC