The Olympics and Artist Studio Provision in London
NFASP advocacy work:
Advocacy and the Olympics
The NFASP produced a study on the impact of the Olympics on affordable artists’ studio provision in the five Olympic boroughs. You can download the full report, or a summary. The study is being used as a key advocacy tool to increase recognition of the importance and value of the affordable studios sector.
Read the NFASP study here
London 2012: What legacy for artists’ studios?
NFASP director Val Millington has contributed an article on the effect of the Olympics on artists’ studios for the contemporary art website Axis, as part of a focus on arts and regeneration: London 2012: What legacy for artists' studios?
Read the article here
Hackney Wick Creative Forum
The NFASP recently attended and contributed to the first Wick Creative Forum, which was set up to support the growth of the creative industries in the Hackney Wick/Fish Island area of East London, especially in the run up to the Olympics. Read more here
The second Wick Creative Forum took place on 7 December, focusing on the Hackney Wick Masterplan consultation by LB of Hackney - read more here.
NFASP has now responded to the Hackney Wick Masterplan consultation and its proposals relating to the future of artists' studio provision in the area: Read the full NFASP response here.
BBC London News recently reported on the threat to the artist community in Hackney Wick and Fish Island - read more here.
Related info: Hackney Wicked Art Festival, Mother Studios and SPACE Studios.
Studio News:
Acme Studios are to create new studios in a mixed-use housing development with Telford Homes on a former toy factory site in Homerton E9, located to the north of the main London 2012 Olympic Park. One of the studios will be devoted to the Hackney Studio Residency.
Read more here
Bow Arts Trust has eleven brand-new purpose-built studios in
its new P1 studio site on Payne Rd, next to the Olympic Park. The 20-year project has been created in
conjunction with East Thames Housing, offering creative workspaces on
the ground floor as part of this mixed tenure affordable development.
Read more here
SPACE studios
SPACE have teamed up with The Architecture Foundation to provide an extended series of workshops alongside its 5th annual Legacy Now forum. Interim Uses and East London’s Olympic Legacy is on Tuesday 2 March, from 2-5pm. Read more here. See below for more on the Olympic Park legacy plans.
Useful links:
Design for London: Hackney Wick
Design for London comissioned Muf architecture/art to research and document the rich and diverse activities in Hackney Wick and Fish Island: 610 artist studios were counted.
Download the mapping study on the Design for London website.
Axis: The Regeneration Olympics
The Axis online journal hosted an Open Forum: Olympic Regeneration and the impact on artistic life in London, which was active on the Axis website from 9-23 November.
London Culture and 2012 Guide
London Cultural Strategy Group (LCSG) is the Mayoral advisory group on arts and culture, chaired by Iwona Blazwick, OBE, Director of the Whitechapel Gallery.
The LCSG and the Olympics: LCSG held an open meeting on 2 November to launch the London Culture and 2012 Guide to getting involved in the capital’s cultural celebrations.
Find out more and download the Guide
Legacy
Legacy is a multi-agency partnership, led by the London
Development Agency (LDA), involved in implementing the commitment to a
lasting legacy of social, physical and economic regeneration after the
Olympic and Paralympic Games 2012. The partnership includes all key
public sector bodies, the five host boroughs, the Mayor of London, the
Olympic Delivery Authority, the London Organising Committee of the
Olympic and Paralympic Games and others.
Legacy recently organised a lecture on: The Art of Regeneration: creating an artistic and community legacy for London 2012. The lecture took place on 24 November, 5-8pm, The Great Hall, Goldsmiths, University of London. Speakers included: Sarah Weir, Head of Arts and Cultural Strategy for the Olympic Delivery Authority, Emma Wheelhouse, Olympic Park Legacy Company, artist Hilary Powell and photographer Geshe Wuerfel, among others. For more info, go to: www.legacy-now.co.uk
Cultural Olympiad
Unlimited is the £3m disability arts, culture and sports fund as part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad. Read more here.
Workshops are being held by London 2012 in February and March to help organisations get involved in the the Open Weekend 2010 in July. Read more here
Ruth MacKenzie was appointed as Director of Culture for London 2012 in January 2010. Read her blog here.
Press:
Arts Professional Magazine: Cultural Olympiad – The 2012 Whitewash?
A critical view of the Cultural Olympiad by Sam Li of criticalnetwork
Read the article here (for AP subscribers only)