A Sheppey artist has won a competition to celebrate Kent’s culture ahead of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Nicole Mollett, lead artist and curator of the Castle Gallery in Queenborough, was short-listed as one of three finalists in the Kent Cultural Baton competition and found out her idea had been voted for last week.

The Kent Cultural Baton is an original piece of art which will travel around the county visiting festivals, organisations, individuals, schools and businesses which together will represent the 21 representations of culture and creativity as defined by the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games.

These include art, science, food, gardens, heritage and history, carnival and street theatre, music and the environment.

The idea which won Nicole first place is a large airstream caravan which will travel around Kent collecting stories from people and helping them get involved in drawing, photography, sound and film.

It will also be used as a temporary gallery space.

The workshops will create a map of the county to encourage people to explore the lost, forgotten and hidden places of Kent.

Nicole said: “I am delighted. It is such an honour and a fantastic opportunity to be able to make my idea actually happen. I look forward to expanding my work across Kent, inspiring people to rediscover and reflect on what makes their local area unique in the lead-up to 2012.

“The Kent Cultural Baton will use the idea of how Google Earth and GPS systems allows travel from world views to an image of someone’s back garden within seconds, suggesting that nowhere is uncharted or distant any more.

“Yet within this technological age so much knowledge is still lost or hidden.

“The travelling pod project, intends to reveal the idea, that within every world there is a world, and that within every small village there is a million fascinating stories to be told.”