Inspirational Elaine to get tribute statue
THE Monumental Welsh Women campaign has announced it will commission acclaimed sculptor Emma Rodgers to create a statue of beloved Western Mail columnist Elaine Morgan.
The group was behind the Hidden Heroines project, which aims to address the gender imbalance in public art in Wales. Before its campaign there wasn’t a single statue of a historical Welsh woman in any outdoor space in Wales.
Its mission is to erect statues of five Welsh women over the next five years.
A public vote held by BBC Wales last year to decide who should be commemorated by the first statue resulted in Betty Campbell, the first Welsh black headteacher, being honoured with a statue in Central Square, Cardiff, which will be unveiled in June 2021.
The statue of Elaine Morgan, who was born in Pontypridd 100 years ago, will be the second statue – with artworks of Lady Rhondda, Cranogwen and Elizabeth Andrews to follow.
Emma Rodgers – whose notable works include Liverpool’s statue of Cilla Black – was selected from a shortlist of internationally renowned female sculptors.
Her statue of Elaine Morgan will be erected outside the new medical centre in Mountain Ash, Ty Calon Lân, thanks to support from Apollo Capital Projects Development, the developers behind the new centre, the Waterloo Foundation, the Moondance Foundation, Welsh Government and public donations.
Ms Rodgers said: “I feel very privileged to be creating one of the first female sculptures in Wales and incredibly pleased that it is of such an inspirational woman. Elaine Morgan not only had an incredible mind but also a real warmth and nurturing spirit”.
Helen Molyneux, from the Monumental Welsh Women group, said: ‘We are delighted to be able to announce the commissioning of our project’s second statue, of Elaine Morgan – in what is her centenary year.
“Elaine was a wonderful dramatist and feminist icon and we are thrilled to be able to immortalise her achievements so that she will be remembered in her home town and beyond for years to come. She was an inspirational woman and we hope her statue will act as an inspiration to the girls – and boys – of Mountain Ash”.
Gareth Morgan, Elaine’s son, said: “I know Elaine would have been delighted with the work of the Monumental Welsh Women statue campaign, not for the recognition of her own achievements, but in celebrating the lives of the many extraordinary women that Wales has produced.
“Elaine’s work has helped to inspire women everywhere and I have seen messages to her from women all over the world who wrote to thank her for changing their lives. Some had been inspired to forge a career in science, while others took up writing or some other long-held ambition after reading her books, and they all expressed how she had changed their view of women, of science and of themselves.
“Though Emma Rodgers’ talent as a sculptor speaks for itself, I know that Elaine would have been quietly delighted that the commission for her statue was given to a woman. Elaine has been called a campaigner for women’s equality, but secretly I think she believed in women’s superiority!
“In 2013 I escorted her to the ceremony where she was made an honorary freeman of Rhondda Cynon Taf and I know that the affection in which she is held in her homeland meant more to her than all the international awards that she won in her lifetime.”