Create London
As east London geared up for the 2012 Olympics, Create London founder Hadrian Garrard was keenly aware of a local disconnect: in what is one of the biggest cultural quarters in Europe, a chasm had emerged between the artists and their neighbours. ‘Back in 2009, there were around 13,000 artists living and working in the area, but with very low levels of engagement in the surrounding communities,’ he explains. ‘You were less likely to walk into an art gallery if you lived in the East End than almost anywhere else in the UK.’
Launching an arts production platform that could set up self-sustaining enterprises would provide this missing local link, creating jobs and cementing the artists’ status as a useful, deserving presence. ‘If an artist isn’t seen as embedded in the community, their place becomes more precarious,’ says Garrard. Commissions include Walthamstow’s Blackhorse Workshop, a public-access wood and metalwork space launched in 2014 with Turner-prize-winning multidisciplinary collective Assemble, and new project Hoxton Gardenware, which sees artist Aaron Angell teaching young people how to make terracotta pots from his studio, Troy Town. An ambitious new Barking community arts space, backed by Grayson Perry, is set to open in 2021.
‘We’re making a strong argument for why it’s good to have artists in the city,’ says Garrard, who adds that expansion is nigh. ‘We need to reintegrate art into society. It should be part of everyday life.’ createlondon.org
‘BACK IN 2009, THERE WERE AROUND 13,000 ARTISTS IN THE AREA, BUT WITH VERY LOW LEVELS OF ENGAGEMENT IN THE SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES’