LONDON.- Now, one year on from the Thames Diamond Jubilee River Pageant and as part of this year’s Mayor’s Thames Festival, more than 50 works of art created at various points along the route, commemorating the biggest event the river has ever seen, will go on display for the first time.

Three years in the making, close to a million people turned out on the banks of the river to cheer on the Queen as she travelled through the heart of London on the royal barge, Gloriana, among the flotilla of tugs, dragon boats, steamers, pleasure cruisers and kayaks.

Artists along the 7-mile route also braved typical English weather conditions to record this once-in-a-lifestyle spectacle through drawing, painting, photography, embroidery, collage or installation. The public will now get a chance to see many of those works created on the day when they go on display during a free exhibition this September as part of the Mayor’s Thames Festival.

Some of the works were created on the rain-swept Millennium Bridge, others were painted from the riverside terraces of City of London School, while some were commissioned by London institutions from the Savoy Hotel and City Hall to the Port of London Authority and the BBC. Many artists came via the Prince’s Drawing School, founded by HRH Prince Charles, while others chose to record it of their own volition.

Leading artists taking part include Adam Dant, Chris Orr RA, Peter Kent, Timothy Hayman RA, Susan Wilson, Sophie Charalambous, David Downes, and Dominic Madden. Pageant Master Adrian Evans LVO, and Director, the Mayor’s Thames Festival, says: “We are delighted people will get a chance to see these fabulous and varied works by artists who battled wind and rain on the day to produce them.

The exhibition is part of a series of accessible and free public art works, installations and events in, alongside, or near the Thames being run this year by the Mayor’s Thames Festival. For the first time, the festival will extend from a concentrated weekend of riverside animations to a season of bespoke events that spans ten days, featuring extraordinary new creative commissions by leading artists (including twice Turner Prize nominee, Richard Wilson RA), amazing river events, incentives to get people on to the Thames, and many new activities to connect, involve and inspire people with London’s greatest natural asset.

Artists of the Pageant is on from 4 to 15 September 2013 at Pump House Gallery, Battersea Park, London SW11 4NJ. Opening times are Monday to Friday (11am - 5pm), Saturday (11am - 3pm), and Sunday (11am - 5pm). Admission is free. Many of the works are for sale. In a special talk coinciding with the exhibition, celebrated historian Bettany Hughes will also delve behind the scenes with Pageant Master and Thames Festival Director, Adrian Evans, to explore the triumphs, trials and tribulations of planning one of the most extraordinary maritime feats of modern times.