So the Olympic Games are over and the Paralympics are finishing early this month.
Having been surrounded in our offices in Stratford by the world walking past our door each day, I experienced the thrill and joy of the competitions and ceremonies (both on TV and a couple live) and felt a great sense of pride at the role my small team played in the creation of the Olympic park, overseeing the permanent Art in the Park commissions for the past four years.
All of which formed a backdrop to the Legacy List, the post-games park charity I am now running, which is dedicated to making creative connections between people and the future Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park with a focus on arts, culture, education and skills.
There has been the ecstasy of the winners and the agony of the losers in all disciplines across the Olympic Games. And there seem to have been winners and losers in arts and culture as well, with museums reporting numbers down and the Cultural Olympiad reporting the reverse, with over 12 million people having taken part in events across the country, the vast majority of them free.
But as the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games depart, leaving an indelible memory on many, in just a few more weeks the future Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park starts to be transformed into London’s newest destination.
And since last year, we have been working on developing a range of post-games artistic and educational projects that will build on the creativity of the permanent art commissions in the park, as well as creative talent already in the area and beyond.
From a new Floating Cinema, one of the pioneer boats that will go up and down the River Lea next year when it reopens for water traffic, to children’s poetry projects inspired by the poetry commissions in the park, from art camps to artist walls along the river, from creative literacy programmes to youth radio stations, from summer schools to children’s play spaces.
These projects will often start outside the park as it is still closed and will involve people locally. Some could move into the park as it opens providing a creative and educational memory alongside the sporting one.
Three aspects of the culture of this part of London stand out as an inspiration for developing future places, programmes and projects. These are the rich industrial heritage, the water which runs right through it and the creative pioneers who have lived here in the past, continue to live here now and will do so in the future.
So as the Olympic athletes, both winners and losers, raised the bar in all possible ways with their individual performances, let’s honour that memory and also rigorously continue to raise our own artistic and creative bars. Both in the park, in London and across the UK.
Sarah Weir is the chief executive of the Legacy List.
See this month's vox pop for more debate on the cultural legacy of the Olympics
Having been surrounded in our offices in Stratford by the world walking past our door each day, I experienced the thrill and joy of the competitions and ceremonies (both on TV and a couple live) and felt a great sense of pride at the role my small team played in the creation of the Olympic park, overseeing the permanent Art in the Park commissions for the past four years.
All of which formed a backdrop to the Legacy List, the post-games park charity I am now running, which is dedicated to making creative connections between people and the future Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park with a focus on arts, culture, education and skills.
There has been the ecstasy of the winners and the agony of the losers in all disciplines across the Olympic Games. And there seem to have been winners and losers in arts and culture as well, with museums reporting numbers down and the Cultural Olympiad reporting the reverse, with over 12 million people having taken part in events across the country, the vast majority of them free.
But as the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games depart, leaving an indelible memory on many, in just a few more weeks the future Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park starts to be transformed into London’s newest destination.
And since last year, we have been working on developing a range of post-games artistic and educational projects that will build on the creativity of the permanent art commissions in the park, as well as creative talent already in the area and beyond.
From a new Floating Cinema, one of the pioneer boats that will go up and down the River Lea next year when it reopens for water traffic, to children’s poetry projects inspired by the poetry commissions in the park, from art camps to artist walls along the river, from creative literacy programmes to youth radio stations, from summer schools to children’s play spaces.
These projects will often start outside the park as it is still closed and will involve people locally. Some could move into the park as it opens providing a creative and educational memory alongside the sporting one.
Three aspects of the culture of this part of London stand out as an inspiration for developing future places, programmes and projects. These are the rich industrial heritage, the water which runs right through it and the creative pioneers who have lived here in the past, continue to live here now and will do so in the future.
So as the Olympic athletes, both winners and losers, raised the bar in all possible ways with their individual performances, let’s honour that memory and also rigorously continue to raise our own artistic and creative bars. Both in the park, in London and across the UK.
Sarah Weir is the chief executive of the Legacy List.
See this month's vox pop for more debate on the cultural legacy of the Olympics
