An appropriation committee to coordinate initiatives

Due to the construction schedule for the building, the Louvre-Lens will not open its doors until 2012. Expectations are already high; local people are keen to discover their new museum.

A project appropriation committee has therefore been formed. Its mission is twofold: first, to explain the project in order to boost its acceptance by the people of Lens and the region; second, to launch initiatives to heighten awareness of art and museums.

A number of schemes have already been set up by the project partners.

Traveling exhibition of the architectural project

A traveling exhibition was organized to present the architectural competition for the Louvre-Lens. The plans and models by the six competing teams were shown at the Maison Syndicale de Lens in December 2005 and January 2006, at the Maison de l’Architecture de Lille in March 2006, then in April and May at the Louvre in Paris. The winning design, by the Sanaa agency, was also exhibited at the Maison d’Architecture de Picardie in Amiens from June to July 2006, and finally in Brussels from December 2006 to February 2007, at the International Center for Urbanism, Architecture, and Landscape.

Initiatives in the Lens region, and at the Louvre in Paris

Inspired by the "Belfries of Culture" initiated by the Nord–Pas de Calais Regional Council in 2004, two Louvre-Lens Belfries were organized in 2007 and 2008 to present works from the Louvre, but also from regional museums. The Ecole du Louvre has opened an annex in Lens, and has offered an (annual) introductory art history course since 2006.
The Musée du Louvre in Paris plays host each spring to nine and ten-year-old schoolchildren from Lens, and regularly receives groups from the Lens region—especially members of the Louvre-Lens Association. In September 2007, over 350 musicians from the brass and wind bands in the Pas-de-Calais region took part in a musical event entitled "Trumpets in the Tuileries!".

Support for the Louvre-Lens from the sporting community

The Regional Athletics Federation of the Nord-Pas de Calais region has made its own contribution to the project by launching the Route du Louvre run—a marathon and various walks between Lille (the regional capital) and Lens. In view of the success of the first edition in 2006, this will now be an annual event.

Call for initiatives

Associations, local authorities, artists, etc may have ideas for schemes to promote the Louvre-Lens and prepare the local people for its arrival. The appropriation committee is charged with examining and selecting projects according to its accreditation charter.