It’s been a year of cultural wonders and TAMZIN LEWIS picks three highlights – all now sadly facing perilous futures

THE intriguing writer and intellectual GK Chesterton commented that “the world shall perish not for lack of wonders, but for lack of wonder”.

His words were inspirational to author Frank Cottrell Boyce while helping Danny Boyle design the Isles of Wonder theme for the Olympics opening ceremony.

It was an entertaining evening on the telly but what about the legacy of the Cultural Olympiad?

Five months after London’s triumph, the legacy for Newcastle looks to be the cultural decimation of everything I love most about my hometown.

The city council proposes cutting all of its arts spending (£1.6m) - which, I reckon, is about 6% of what the Government spent on London’s lavish one-night spectacle.

This takes me back to the idea of wonders, of which there are many in Newcastle currently under threat.

Wonder number one for me in 2012 was Seven Stories, the National Centre for Children’s Books, supported until now by funding from the city council.

Every time I visited this unique venue with my two children it took my breath away.

Each exhibition literally opens a new world on writers and illustrators and in my opinion this year’s A Squash and a Squeeze: Sharing Stories with Julia Donaldson, was the best yet for younger children.

My kids got something new from the show every time we went and when I wasn’t watching them act out A Squash and a Squeeze in the little house, I could relish the amazing original artwork for Julia’s books.

Proposed cuts to the centre’s funding are equivalent to what Seven Stories spends on outreach work with school children.

Wonder number two was Northern Stage which created a storm with a sell-out revival of Alan Plater’s Close the Coalhouse Door, welcomed innovative work such as Shared Experience’s new play Mary Shelley and curated a whole programme of theatre in St Stephen’s Church for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Not to be overlooked amongst all the serious stuff was Northern Stage’s excellent children’s programme of theatre, especially the annual in-house creation of an original Christmas play for children aged six and under.

In terms of kids’ theatre, the team that this year produced The Little Detective Agency and the Case of the Festive Thief are in a class of their own. What will proposed cuts mean for Northern Stage? More loss of educational work perhaps?

My third wonder is Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums (TWAM) generally, and specifically the Hatton Gallery at Newcastle University, managed by TWAM.

This autumn, in association with Vane Gallery, it produced a challenging and beautiful exhibition looking into the science of schizophrenia.

Curated by Susan Aldworth, Reassembling the Self explored the fragility of the mind in a variety of thought-provoking forms.

It was at this exhibition that I first encountered the artist Sarah Blood as she had created an amazing 12ft neon angel facing its opposite demon in rusted steel.

Working from Lime Street studios in the Ouseburn, Sarah is creating groundbreaking neon sculptures and exhibiting internationally with the likes of Tracey Emin.

Equally impressive was Sarah’s work this year with children and young people in Cowgate during a long-term project which culminated in a finished neon starburst sculpture for the exterior of the Cowgate Centre. There is funding in place to look after the piece for five years so there is a legacy to this inspiring community project.

I wonder and fear: is all the progress in the arts made since our angel landed in 1998 to be wiped out by politicians?

To rephrase GK Chesterton, we are on the verge of perishing for lack of wonders and lack of wonder.

It was an entertaining evening on the telly but what about the legacy of the Cultural Olympiad?