The Royal Parks charity has announced London artist Leah Clements as Greenwich Park’s first artist in residence.
Working in partnership with leading public art organisation UP Projects, the inaugural role has been created to build on the community engagement work already undertaken as part of the recent Greenwich Park Revealed restoration project.
The residency aims to help The Royal Parks develop a better understanding of communities’ experiences, needs, and connections to the park, to make Greenwich Park welcoming and accessible to everyone.
Leah Clements said: “I’m very excited to begin my residency at Greenwich Park, particularly about thinking collectively with other disabled people about how we might encounter, explore, and enjoy this special place.”
Clements was selected in December, following a public open call, where over 200 applicants submitted proposals.
Through her residency, she will expand on her extensive work exploring access and inclusion, to engage creatively with currently underserved communities, focusing on people with visible or hidden disabilities.
Clements’ work across different media to investigate moments of transcendence is often grounded in personal narratives of unusual or difficult-to-express experiences.
The residency will begin this month and run for six months, culminating in a creative output which will be shared with park visitors in summer 2026.
Daniella Briscoe-Peaple, community engagement officer at The Royal Parks, said: “We are delighted to announce Leah Clements as our first artist in residence.
“Leah’s interdisciplinary practice, combined with her understanding of the social and cultural value of urban green spaces will compliment and amplify the free cultural events and learning opportunities regularly held in the park for local communities.
“This residency reflects our ambition to deepen connections between the park’s history, its incredible natural environment and the local community, and we can’t wait to see what comes from the collaboration.”
The Constellations Residency aims to foster meaningful connections between Greenwich Park and its visitors through artistic exploration and collaboration, as well as supporting an artist to have the time and space to develop their creative practice.
Clements will be in residence within St Mary’s Lodge and will be supported through a grant and mentoring.
The Constellations Residency forms part of UP Projects’ wider Constellations learning and development programme for artists, curators and practitioners interested in the expanded field of public art and social practice.
Emma Underhill and Moira Lascelles, UP Projects’ co-directors, said: “UP Projects are delighted to be partnering with the Royal Parks charity to introduce an artist in residence within this historic park setting.
“As socially engaged curators who believe in the power of art and artists to effect social change, we are excited about the potential of Clements’ residency, to not only enable her to develop her artistic practice, but to also explore how accessibility is approached in Greenwich Park.”
The Artist in Residency project forms part of the legacy of Greenwich Park Revealed, a flagship, award-winning project spanning several years, which has restored the park’s unique 17th-Century landscape.
It has created new learning and volunteering spaces, generated new public green space incorporating a new café and hosted a large programme of free community cultural and learning activities.
The project has also delivered new wayfinding signage and interpretation, and has enhanced the park’s biodiversity.
Feature image: The Royal Parks/Poppy Cockburn
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