Betty Campbell Monument nominated for prestigious national award

The Betty Campbell Monument, located in Cardiff City Centre has been shortlisted for a prestigious award.

Designed and created by figurative sculptor Eve Shepherd, the monument was unveiled in September 2021 following a campaign by the Monumental Welsh Women group.

Betty Campbell was the first black head teacher in Wales and her statue was the first of a named, non-fictional Welsh woman in an outdoor public space in the country.

The statue has been shortlisted for the Public Statues and Sculpture Association Marsh Award for Excellence in Public Sculpture, with the winner announced 0n 24 November in an online ceremony.

Public vote

The award is decided by a judging panel and this year members of the public are also being given a chance to vote for their favourite work.

People are being invited to vote from a shortlist of nine public works of sculpture from across the UK.

The Betty Campbell Monument is the only work nominated from Wales.

Voting is taking place online via the Public Statues and Sculpture Association website here:

The shortlisted works are:

Alex Chinneck, A Spring in your Step, Circus Street, Brighton, Sussex

Alexandre da Cunha, Sunset, Sunrise, Sunset, Battersea Power Station Underground, London SW8

Laurence Edwards, A Rich Seam, Print Office Street, Doncaster, West Yorkshire

Laurence Edwards, Yoxman, The Suffolk Colossus, Cockfield Hall, Yoxford, Suffolk

Diane Lawrenson, Contemplation, Anne Lister, Piece Hall, Halifax, West Yorkshire

Veronica Ryan, Custard Apple (Annonaceae), Breadfruit (Moraceae) and Soursop (Annonaceae), Narrow Way Square, Hackney, London E8

Eve Shepherd, The Betty Campbell Monument, Central Square, Cardiff, Wales

Lee Simmons – The Tay Whale, Dundee Waterfront, Dundee, Scotland

Ben Twiston-Davies, Ebenezer Howard, Howardsgate, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire

The Betty Campbell Monument was the first of five statues of named Welsh women being erected by  Monumental Welsh Women, a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to recognising the contribution of women to the history and life of Wales.

The second, a statue of Elaine Morgan, was unveiled in Mountain Ash earlier this year and a statue of Cranogwen has been commissioned and a location designated in Llangrannog.

The commissioning process for Lady Rhondda is imminent, to be followed by a statue of Elizabeth Andrews.

More information on the Monumental Welsh Women campaign can be found here: