Image credit: Tom Wheatley

Arts and Culture Strategy for the Olympic Park

Our strategy has guided the transformation of the London 2012 Olympic Park into a new and dynamic quarter of the city.

Callum Lee

Managing Director

Callum leads the BOP team, its portfolio and strategic partnerships. His cultural and creative industries expertise is founded on leading analytical research and policy formulation in the UK and internationally.

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LOCATION

Europe

CLIENT

London Legacy Development Corporation

SECTOR

Projects Sectors

EXPERTISE

Cultural Master Planning

The outstanding success of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games helped reinforce the capital’s position as one of the world’s leading cities for culture.

The development of a cultural legacy from the London 2012 Games was a core part of the original Olympic and Paralympic bid, and sparked an unprecedented wealth of cultural activity throughout the UK from as early as 2005.

Focusing on the Park and its borders, it is important to recognise a series of innovative projects which were the forerunners to our development of art and culture in east London, and the foundations of the arts and culture strategy. They have all made important contributions to the development of the area, demonstrating how arts and culture can have an ongoing impact.

In December 2012, just four months after the close of an extraordinary Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Legacy Corporation’s Board approved an ambitious strategy that was created by BOP for arts and culture in east London. The strategy, which is already a year into its delivery, made a commitment to:

create exceptional art and culture for all to enjoy
build on the heritage of the area by enlivening our public spaces and connecting with local communities
support cultural infrastructure ensuring that artists and organisations continue to have workspaces
nurture the next generation of creative minds and artists
support new initiatives to ensure that this cultural network continues to grow.

The goals of the strategy

The implementation of the startegy is carried out by the London Legacy Development Corporation that was created by the Mayor of London to develop the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. It comprises five main themes:

Creative destination: The Park will be recognised as an exciting new area of east London and a significant cultural destination within London, contributing to the Mayor’s vision for London as leading cultural city.
Creative workspaces: Creative talent in east London will be supported and developed, and its cultural infrastructure will be strengthened and sustained including new work spaces for artists.
Art in the Park: New work of the highest quality across art forms in and around the Park will be comissioned, accessible to all and creating opportunities for a range of local and international artists.
Taking part: Communities will have sustained opportunities to come together, learn new creative skills, and make and take part in arts and cultural activities.
Festivals and events: Arts and culture will be central to the wider Park entertainment programme, attracting new audiences to memorable and high quality events.