Hadrian Garrard - Founding Director, Create London

Hadrian Garrard is the Founding Director of the award-winning arts charity Create London, a National Portfolio Organisation of Arts Council England and an Associate Partner of the Barbican. Create London are leaders in the field in working with artists in civic and public contexts and have commissioned major projects with artists including Jeremy Deller, Marvin Gaye Chetwynd, Marcus Coates and with creative practitioners ranging from the Turner Prize winning architecture collective Assemble to the grime artist Skepta. Create London have worked with the Universities of Edinburgh, Goldsmiths and Sheffield to commission pioneering research on issues of cultural access and participation, delivered cultural strategies for 8 London Boroughs and worked with leading institutions ranging from the Barbican, the Whitechapel Gallery and Glasgow City Council.

Prior to this Hadrian was the Creative Programmer for the Host Boroughs of the London 2012 Games working with the BBC, local partners and major national institutions to deliver a 3-year programme of art, architecture, music and performance across east London, attracting audiences of over 3.2m. He is a founder of Create Jobs, a London-wide job brokerage project for young people who aspire to work in the creative industries and has set up five thriving social enterprises. He has been part of the Mayor of London's Cultural Quarters Group and leads on culture for the Strategic Regeneration Framework across 6 London Boroughs. Hadrian is directly involved in strategy and policy-making, ensuring culture is embedded in long-term planning in the context of sustainable community development for east London. Hadrian delivered the 2012 cultural strategy for the London Borough of Hackney and was involved in the redevelopment and opening of the Hackney Empire Theatre in 2002.