A new public art trail celebrating past inspirational figures who have contributed to the borough’s rich and unique cultural tapestry has been launched by Barnet Council.
Their achievements in the fields of art, film, literature, music, design, aviation, commerce and culture will be marked with specially commissioned, unique commemorative artworks to form an art trail. The project was curated and produced by Create London and the artworks were designed by artist and architect Edward Crooks.
These accolades to the borough’s ‘Barnet Legends’ have been plotted on a map, leading visitors around the borough to 21 locations, including the Royal Airforce Museum, Barnet Museum, Finchley Youth Centre and many others. The map can be found at: www.engage.barnet.gov.uk/barnet-legends
Councillor Anne Clarke, Cabinet Member for Culture, Leisure, Arts & Sports, said: “I’ve always known Barnet has an amazing cultural legacy stretching back many, many years. But the Barnet Legends project has taught me we have even more to be proud of than I could ever have imagined.
“We want to highlight our borough’s amazing cultural legacy, and this project will be a great way of achieving this. We care for our people and places – and we want to celebrate them. Please explore this trail. Be proud of what people have achieved in this borough in the past – and the great accomplishments people in Barnet will continue to make in the future.”
The artworks will celebrate Barnet Legends ranging from ‘Forces’ Sweetheart’ Vera Lynn, singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse and pop icon George Michael to unsung local heroes like Mrs Daulat Jiwa who founded the Barnet Asian Women’s Association. Another local hero is Eileen Colwell, who radically transformed children’s reading by founding the first children’s library in Hendon.
Then there’s boogie-woogie star Winifred Atwell who became the first black musician to reach UK no. 1 in the UK singles chart with 1954 hit Let’s Have Another Party. The pianist – who earned just a few pounds a week when she first came to Britain – was earning a salary of more than £10,000 a week by the mid-1950s. Her hands were insured with Lloyd’s of London for £40,000 in a policy that stipulated she was never to wash dishes. She lived in Whetstone.
Charlotte Reiniger is another to get a Barnet Legends artwork. As a refugee coming to the borough, she created the world’s oldest surviving feature length animation. Her work, The Adventures of Prince Achmed, released in 1926, tells the story of an African sorcerer who conjures a flying horse – leading to a curious and magical adventure. Reiniger’s films, created in her New Barnet studio, continue to inspire filmmakers to this day.
These past figures recognised in the Barnet Legends art trail project were selected through a community nomination process and panel sessions with representatives from a range of community organisations. Maxability, New Citizens Gateway, InKluder, Middlesex University, Barnet Multi Faith Forum and a young person from Saracens High School, as well as local historians, have all played a part in realising the project.