Cultural and Artistic Advances during the Games of the XXIII Olympiad

In 1984 it was decided to honor the tradition of ancient Greece.The goal was to evoke the spirit of ancient Greece, where athletes and artist gathered at the Olympics to engage in sports competitions, perform new plays, and celebrate the sheer joy of being alive.  In honor of this, a 10-week long festival which preceded the games rather than competing with them was initiated. “It was considered international, reflecting on the character of the games and the host city, Los Angeles, where 83 languages and cultures co-exist. It would be interdisciplinary, representing artistic creativity in most forms. It would have traditional arts, preserving and presenting the best of our own and other cultures, and contemporary arts, acknowledging artists of the day, particularly those who challenge aesthetic conventions.” 

June 1, 1984 was the official opening of the 10-week long Los Angeles Olympic Arts Festival. Pina Bausch Wuppertaler Tanztheater, the controversial West German dance company opened the festival. Other performing arts companies making their American debuts included Britain's Royal Opera of Covent Garden, the National Theater of Greece, Austrialia's Circus Oz, and Japan's erotic modern dance company, Sankaijuku.

It was important that the festival leave a visible legacy. The Los Angeles Olympic committee commissioned several works of public art. Sculptor Robert Graham’s bronze grand Gateway facing the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Exhibition Park was a gift to the people of Los Angeles from the Olympic Committee.

Another major commission was the Olympic Mural Project. Ten major Los Angeles artist known for their mural paintings were asked to decorate the freeways between downtown Los Angeles and the Olympic Coliseum with their individual works being cultivated by their own sense of style.

The idea was if the Festival had done what it set out to do the “images would haunt the minds and remain on the retina long after the last performance and exhibition had ended”.

The 1984 Los Angeles Olympics left a lasting artistic and cultural impact. Recognizing and incorporating the differences of individuals and cultural communities was very important. This was done by having people show through artistic expression; murals, sculpture, music the differences they envelop and yet to put aside differences and "rejoice" in being alive. 

Rodolfo Escalera a Mexican artist, was awarded the opportunity to create nine paintings, depicting many of the various sporting events, that were in turn converted into the highest quality collectible porcelain plates and sold, in limited edition quantities, to the general public. These plates were also used by the Olympic committee as the “official gift” being presented to all of the visiting dignitaries from throughout the world.

 At these Olympic Games Mary Lou Retton executed breath taking performances to win the women’s all around gold medal in Artistic Gymnastics. She broke the United States women’s losing streak. Because of this she got herself on the front of a Wheaties box and became their first official sponsor. She also was named “Sports Illustrated Woman of the Year”.

Rhythmic gymnastics and synchronized swimming also made their first appearance as did the women's cycling road race.

http://escaleraart.com/pages/the-artist.html

http://www.olympic.org/los-angeles-1984-summer-olympics

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/1109/olymipcs-olympians-to-watch/content.37.html
http://www.nytimes.com/1984/06/02/theater/olympic-arts-festival-opens-in-la.html
http://library.la84.org/OlympicInformationCenter/OlympicReview/1984/ore198/ORE198o.pdf