Rochdale mayor unveils bronze bust in celebration of strong female leadership and female creative talent.

By Steve Cooke

A stunning bronze bust of Rochdale mayor councillor Janet Emsley has been unveiled at the town hall.

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 – Janet and Kara are a powerful combination!

Following an inspirational and illuminating introduction by the sculptor the bust was unveiled by the woman herself, which she described as quite a surreal and truly humbling moment.

Councillor Emsley said:  “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.”

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.

Janet’s year as Mayor and Rochdale’s year as GM Town of culture couldn’t have been more serendipitous!

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. She said: “Janet taught all three 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.”

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.

With Janet and Kara behind the move to increase the number of female statues and sculptures across Greater Manchester we can look forward to many more unveilings.

The bust is now on permanent display at Rochdale Town Hall, adding to the many magnificent works of art already on display.