Red List Comment Submission

Commenting on: Canal art and boat painting

Section one - About you

Section two - Description of the craft

If you are commenting on an existing craft, please select it here and skip the next two questions

Please enter the name of the craft you would like us to add here.

If this is a new craft type please select the most suitable category

Please identify country, region, county or town

Please identify country, region, county or town

Please identify an era/century/approximate historic period.

Heritage Crafts uses a system of four categories of risk to assess the viability of heritage crafts. A heritage craft is considered to be viable if there are sufficient craftspeople to transmit the craft skills to the next generation. For more information on definitions see http://heritagecrafts.org.uk/redlist/categories-of-risk/

Section three - Current numbers of those practising the craft in the UK

People earning their main craft income from this craft (selling, commissions, conservation/ restoration and/or teaching).

People practicing this craft commercially (selling, commissions, conservation/restoration and/or teaching) but as less than half of their income.

People acquiring skills in order to become a professional in this craft, they probably have to work under supervision even if they are earning money while training.

People whose knowledge and ability is at a level of the most skilled practitioners of this craft.

People who do not intend to practice this craft professionally or at the highest level.

Section four - Issues affecting the viability of the craft

Existing content:
  • Awareness of the craft: As people become interested in the ‘tiny home’ eco-focus and alternative methods of living off-grid, narrowboats are becoming popular for people seeking affordable accommodation, either in an inner-city mooring (as with many London boaters) or as working spaces and arts studios, as with contemporary sculptor Kate MccGwire. There may not be the historical awareness or context for Boaters as a historic cultural group of Travellers – with a distinct style of art that has connections to the past – beyond the 200-year documented history of boat painting in the UK.
  • Lack of skilled practitioners: There is a distinction between the professional craftspeople who can competently paint a whole historic boat and associated fittings to a standard that ensures traditional knowledge, skills and styles are represented, and the artists and craftspeople who enjoy canal art as a personal practice and hobby for their own enjoyment. The GRTSB Crafts Makers Survey will remain open until July 2023 to allow for further conversations, research and updates into the future, and this approach is actively building relationships and support for GRTSB self-representation.
  • Lack of training opportunities: Informal training in the form of apprenticeship and mentorship is occasionally offered. Short courses in canal art and sign writing are helping to reach a next generation of craftspeople with transferable skills and interests in the visual styles associated with canal arts.
  • Loss of skills: Due to the waterways becoming mainly living and leisure spaces, the industrial association with the heritage economy and travelling-trading forms (coal for example), mean that historic working boats requiring re-painting c.1900 are rare, and are often museum pieces or in need of extensive repair. As the older boats fall out of use, the restoration and decorative skills are not seen or shared, as they were in the past. This means the focus shifts from painting historic boats, to painting items of bargeware, which have transferable settings and uses.
  • Emulation of canal art: Many people have taken courses in canal arts in the past 20 years, and this forms a different skill set and standard to those required by professional canal artists to paint and restore a historic boat, for example.
  • Availability of materials and conservation: Old boats are becoming more-rare, and opportunities to paint early models c.1900 are now very limited. There is great concern from the Boater crafts community as to the current conservation practices of museums holding heritage canal art objects and historic boats, and this concern is for the correct and urgent repair and storage of significant items of Boater heritage crafts, which are at risk of actively being lost due to neglect. Paints used in canal arts historically contained toxic lead and therefore there might be issues sourcing older paints for restoration, and associated health implications of working with old paints. Painters are also reporting difficulties in obtaining traditional metal items in particular water cans (buckby cans), horse nose tins, handbowls and dippers.

e.g. lack of qualifications, funding for training etc.

If yes, please describe the issues below

e.g. lack of demand for products/skills etc.

If yes, please describe the issues below

Tick the box if there are difficulties with the supply of raw materials, allied materials or tools

If yes, please describe the issues below

i.e. issues around running any small business, not just crafts

If yes, please describe the issues below

Is the main workforce made up of people who are approaching retirement age?

If yes, please describe the issues below

e.g. legal restrictions on materials, health and safety etc.

If yes, please describe the issues below

e.g. Brexit, Covid-19, conflict

If yes, please describe the issues below

Please describe any other issues

Section five - Current Initiatives to preserve craft skills

Please describe any UK projects or schemes

Section six - Main players in the craft – please tell us who you know about

Please list any known practitioners of this craft — add a row item for each person or business and complete the fields to the best of your knowledge. To get started click the `Add practitioner` button below.

1
Add practitioner

Section seven - Optional additional information

It may include when and where the craft developed, how it has changed over time, etc.

e.g. festivals, religious celebrations, agricultural practices, music, dance etc.

e.g. religious, ethnic, social class. Please give an overview of the techniques involved in the craft.

This may involve different materials, techniques, styles or finished products.

e.g. books, websites etc.