Methodist-backed community project wins cultural approval from Olympic organisers

A Methodist-backed community arts project has received the go ahead to feature as part of the Cultural Olympiad.

The London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG) has awarded an Inspire Mark to the Outside/In project in Newcastle.

The project gives young people and adults from around the city the opportunity to share their history and culture through art.

The artwork will go on display from March to July as part of four exhibitions at The Holy Biscuit, a community arts space partnered with the Methodist Church and independent art gallery, the Biscuit Factory.

Ish Lennox, Olympic and Paralympic Games Coordinator for the Methodist Church, said: “It’s fantastic that a Methodist project has won an Inspire Mark.

"We are completely committed to engaging with the Cultural Olympiad. Methodist Christian Discipleship is life-long and whole life.

"Arts and culture is a vibrant and essential part of that wholeness. Being awarded an Inspire Mark from LOCOG is a great achievement.”

The Outside/In project aims to widen social integration and personal development, as well as provide space for a legacy of community engagement with the arts.

The four exhibitions combine photography, film, sculpture and art.

The St James Drama Project is a one-day exhibition of a film produced and acted by children from St John's School, Benwell, Newcastle, based on the lives of people buried in the graveyard of St James Church.

Images of our Newcastle will be a week-long community exhibition, organised by The Holy Biscuit, of photographs taken by school children and Newcastle-based street photographers documenting day-to-day life in Shieldfield, Newcastle.

Togetherness will also be a week-long exhibition involving film footage and photographs of a large (temporary) sculpture made up of wooden blocks created by service-users and students from the Percy Hedley Foundation and the local community.

Playtoon is an exhibition of photography, video, maps and the written word representing street cultures, specifically skateboarding, BMXing and free-running. The weeklong exhibition will be organised by the School of Built and Natural Environment, Northumbria University.