On Friday Ella, Kembhi, Kristina and Rohanie took part in a workshop led by artist Phil Duckworth (Juneau Projects). We worked on board the boat whilst making its way from Birmingham to Ocker Hill (approx 8 miles in total).

Saturday 1st November Black Country Voyages took part in the Annual BCNS Bonfire Rally in Smethwick.

A day spent at Saltwells Nature Reserve.

The second day the team was quite different: there were me, Kate, Duncan, Claire (Duncan’s wife and artist and producer as well), Julia, Kristina, Rohanie, Harr – Joht and the poet Elisabeth Charis who was involved by Clayground Collective to responde at the experience of the day.

July 24th – July 25th | Voyage to Saltwells Nature Reserve Dalton Clay pits

Black Country Voyages in Netherton.

Black Country Voyages disembark in Birches Green Infant School in Erdington.

We spent an evening in a friendly and informal mood talking about the Black Country Voyages project, Juneau Projects’ art works and sharing our ideas.

Kate started a special workshop for Year One children by talking about canals, boats and how people used to live on them.

We spent a lovely and sunny afternoon out on the boat in and around Birmingham city centre hosting this month’s Adult Practical Workshop.

We were delighted to welcome friends of Tipton Library on board our boat. Organised as part of the community engagement work for the Black Country Echoes Festival, local historians, archivist and library staff took part in a special workshop. The group’s cruise took place along the lush green canals of Tipton.

The boat moored up in Tipton for a workshop, encouraging those to paint or draw about nature, taking inspiration from the place we were in or from the books that we had on the boat.

Between Monday 18 and Friday 22 August we were moored alongside the Red House Glass Cone, Stourbridge.

It was the first time that we had ever been part of the Brown Hills Festival and I’m delighted to say it was a huge success!

The Rushall and Tame Valley Canals just got greener and greener and more and more beautiful as we made our way from Ocker Hill to Brown Hills.

Earlier this week Giulia and I were working with the Year One children and staff from Birches Green Primary School. As part of a project about Birmingham the children have been learning about canals. Mrs Wildman invited us in to school to lead a special creative session and to talk more about our experiences of working on our boat. The children worked to produce a series of brightly-coloured designs in paper and in fabric.

As part of Ikon’s 50th year we present a series of events focusing on the five decades of Ikon’s history and the social, political and cultural context.

David Prentice was a founder of Ikon, one of a few that had the vision to encourage artistic adventure in Birmingham. Energetic, very gifted and intelligent, he made an enormous contribution to our recent art history. David was painting right up until his last days – interestingly referring back in style to his seminal work from the early 60s – as keen and as generous as ever in his conversation.

Are you aged 15–19?Enthusiastic about visual arts?Interested in working with artists?Want to find out more about Ikon?

Ikon recently had the pleasure of welcoming our patrons into the galleries for an exclusive curator-led tour of current exhibitions; Jamal Penjweny, Saddam is Here, David Tremlett, 3 Drawing Rooms and a selection of early work by John Salt.

Are there any budding photographers out there? Brindleyplace has launched a special photography competition in partnership with Ikon and Café Opus at Ikon that aims to celebrate the traditional Japanese festival of Hanami. An annual event, Hanami is the Japanese tradition of ‘enjoying the transient beauty of flowers’ and is celebrated to coincide with the flowering of cherry blossom across the country.

As part of Ikon’s 50th year we present a series of events focusing on the five decades of Ikon’s history and the social, political and cultural context.

Ikon has been awarded £210,000 by Arts Council England to bring art to the Black Country.

Aged 18-25, unemployed and want to get into creative employment? Come and find out more at the Get into Creative Employment Fair 2014, 10am-1pm on Saturday 25 January at The Birmingham Rep Theatre, Centenary Square, Broad Street, Birmingham, B1 3AH.