About

The Line is East London’s public art trail that connects Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and The O2, following the waterways and the line of the Greenwich Meridian. Our mission is to connect communities and inspire individuals through a dynamic outdoor exhibition programme where everyone can explore art, nature and heritage for free.

We focus on collaborative engagement projects that support wellbeing and learning, as well as providing opportunities for young people to develop skills and improve employability.

At The Line, we value an open, inclusive and nurturing environment to promote collaboration, creativity and wellbeing. We aim to listen and learn from the people we connect with, including visitors and programme participants.

The Line believes in the transformative impact of art and nature, and we are committed to increasing access to the arts through our programmes and challenging barriers to participation.

The Line is a registered charity (no. 1190073 / company limited by guarantee no. 12392898).

History

The Line was co-founded in 2015 by its Director, Megan Piper, and the late regeneration expert Clive Dutton OBE (1953-2015) whose life’s work was rooted in a commitment to improving the quality of life for people in urban environments. The project was established to democratise access to art by introducing sculptures that were previously hidden from public view into the public realm for audiences to experience for free. Collaboration with local stakeholders and grassroots organisations were key to the development of The Line and continue to be fundamental to its success.

Initiated through a Spacehive crowdfunding campaign, which raised over £140,000 in less than eight weeks in 2014, The Line went from being the seed of an idea to opening to the public in just 18 months. In May 2015, The Line unveiled monumental sculptures along the footpaths of East London’s waterways. The inaugural loans, which included Eduardo Paolozzi, Abigail Fallis and Thomas J Price, came through an open submission and were selected by a panel that included Turner Prize-winning artist Mark Wallinger and Simon Myers, local resident and founder of Cody Dock. Alongside loaned artworks, The Line also highlights a number of pre-existing works along the route, including Antony Gormley’s Quantum Cloud, Richard Wilson’s A Slice of Reality and Anish Kapoor’s ArcelorMittal Orbit.

In 2020, The Line celebrated its fifth anniversary with the extension of its route into Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, its first site-specific commission and the launch of its digital guide with Bloomberg Connects, the free arts and culture app. In 2022, The Line expanded both its team and board of trustees and launched three new site-specific commissions, which were complimented by a wide-ranging multi-disciplinary engagement programme.