Spotlight: Ikon Gallery

The Ikon Youth Programme (IYP) extends agency and space to young people through a peer-led alternative art school hosted on the Slow Boat, a canal boat converted to an art education space. Created in 2010 responding to young people’s desire for “a room of their own” for making and presenting artwork, the Slow Boat has connected young people to emerging and established artists, facilitated knowledge and skills sharing, and explored philosophies of democratised artistic spaces.

These programmes target young people aged 16 to 18 in Further Education, Sixth Form, Alternative Provision and SEN schools who have limited access to visual art education. Ikon seeks to enable these young people to produce and present their version of contemporary art as it intersects with popular culture and political activism.

Existing as a “local venue that changes location”, the Slow Boat has toured the canals of the West Midlands, regularly visiting cities including Birmingham, Coventry, Stourbridge, Walsall and Wolverhampton. Embracing the changing context of the boat, IYP has explored the rich commercial and industrial artistic heritage of the West Midlands and ideas emerging from the Arts and Crafts movement whilst connecting with contemporary discourse on environmental activism, youth inclusion and alternative paradigms for art education.

Working across traditional media such as glassblowing, printmaking and ceramics, the Slow Boat has engaged young people with technical artistic skills outside of traditional institutions, and empowered them to use those skills to creatively reflect their lives and experiences whilst exploring what an alternative art school could be.

Working in response to the crisis in visual art education, IYP has adopted iterative, young-person-led approaches to its programme and evaluation. Ikon has documented the experiences of IYP members through annual publications and symposia, interweaving reflective practices with making throughout the evaluation process. The holistic approach to understanding and valuing the experiences of IYP members has seen a sustained engagement with professionally practicing IYP alumni, who return and share their knowledge and skills.

The reflective practices embedded in IYP has uncovered potential for greater SEN inclusion, contributed thematic explorations of climate justice and highlighted the impact of funding cuts on young people, all of which supports Ikon in bringing the voices of young people to the core of their artistic programme.

Freelands Foundation has supported the Ikon Youth Programme and Slow Boat from 2021 to 2024 and has renewed funding for another three years until 2027. 

Demonstrating an exploration of the intersection of artistic practice and teaching in an alternative approach to art education, IYP and the Slow Boat have yielded valuable learnings for participants, Ikon and the art education sector. Freelands Foundation is committed to supporting these complex and valuable programmes holistically, with funding provided for staffing, boat operations and maintenance, programming and participant costs, publication and evaluation, as well as contribution to the overall operating costs of Ikon.