The sculpture, commissioned as part of the town’s year as Greater Manchester Town of Culture and funded by Arts Council England, celebrates female leadership and the borough’s female creative talent.
It was unveiled by the woman herself, which she described as quite a surreal moment, but said she was truly humbled:
“I’m very proud to finally see it, quite a strange thing to come face to face with, a little emotional really. Rochdale’s progress in the creative fields over the last few years has been magnificent, so to see it culminate in this year as Greater Manchester Town of Culture has been incredible.”
Rochdale mayor councillor Janet Emsley with artist Kara Lyons, who created the work in a bid to address the imbalance of female civic leaders.
A proud mother, grandmother and great grandmother, the mayor was a teacher and director of performing arts at Wardle High School until her retirement in 2015. As a councillor she has represented Littleborough Lakeside since 2014 and was elected mayor of Rochdale in 2025. Councillor Emsley was also a longstanding member of Arts Council England’s North Area Council.
Artist Kara Lyons, based at Ebor Studio in nearby Littleborough, created the work in a bid to address the imbalance of female civic leaders, but said having known the mayor for many years, it was a tough commission:
“Janet taught all 3 of my children, we go back a long way, so there was added pressure on this one to get it right. She has worked tirelessly to support the arts and I hope this is a fitting tribute during her year as mayor too. I don’t think we celebrate female civic leadership enough, and I’d like to see women represented in public spaces as much as men are. It’s important that young women see female role models.”
Rochdale mayor councillor Janet Emsley comes face to face with her bronze bust for the first time.
The sculpture in Rochdale follows the unveiling of a statue in 2016 of Rochdale born 1930’s film star, singer and comedian Dame Gracie Fields – the first female statue in Greater Manchester since Queen Victoria 100 years earlier.
The bust is now on permanent display at Rochdale Town Hall.
