Arts Barge Needs Roof!

The long forgotten cargo barge Selby Tony was rescued and re-loved by The Arts Barge Project in 2013. Music, theatre, arts and barge lovers took her to heart and by 2019 she was shaping up and ready to launch her new found purpose in life as York's only floating community arts centre.

She arrived in York and gave her debut performance at The Arts Barge Riverside Festival in the summer of 2019 and everyone agreed she was an absolute star!

She has plenty of room in her heart and in her hold and is committed to offering a warm welcome to everyone. 

Just how helpful the arts can be in supporting mental health, emotional wellbeing and community wellbeing is being much more widely recognised now. People of all ages and backgrounds gather together on the barge to share experiences and skills in music, theatre, dance and art-making. Taking part in workshops, learning stuff, helping out, meeting old friends and making new ones.

But the Arts Barge needs to be up and running full time to spread the love and bring the benefit of the arts - to all of the people, all of the time. 

In 2022 we raised enough community good will and funding to insulate the barge to make year round usage possible and we bought some portholes to bring more light into the hold - these still need to be fitted. 

High water and wet weather last winter and spring caused damage both internally and externally and remedial work to the flooring, mooring and gangplanks was needed to get us back to where we were. 

We've hosted a few events this year including Drawsome which included a very popular screen print workshop, poetry workshop and evening of music. Open Swim was a storytelling event and fundraiser for Right to Roam. 

We've just launched our Arts Barge summer events season which runs along side this Crowdfunder. You can also contribute by attending one of our events - and see the work in progress!

It's still raining inside due to having no deckhouse and so this summer and into autumn we are aiming to make one. We'll need some professional help but most of the work will be done voluntarily - indeed - we've already made a great start! If you have relevant skills and can lend a hand, we'd love to hear from you. 

David Spencer, our now retired Architect is guiding us - and getting stuck in himself -  Workhaus have kindly donated glass for the deckhouse and we will also be able to give her a new coat of paint due to a generous sponsorship from Brewer's Decorator's Centre. The framework of the deck house is coming together nicely - but we will need more help with the roof!! It'll be a lovely curved roof onto which we will mount solar panels.

The deckhouse will keep the rain out, gather solar energy and provide an indoor upper deck space, ultimately to house an accessible loo and lift so we can invite every single member of our community on board - something we've been looking forward to from the beginning of this journey. 

Donation Rewards

Our Arts Barge illustrator in residence Kai West has been busy with a new collection of posters for our 2024 season and one of each design of these high quality hand screen printed A2 images will be up for grabs.  We also have digital copies of our Gypsy Jazz poster and Helpful Cat image available as rewards. 

Click poster to see events coming up.

What will happen on the barge and who will benefit?

The barge is located in York and is an inclusive, inter-generational community project. When the barge is fully converted with fully accessible lift, and can be used year-round, there will be a wide range of events in different art forms, aimed for a diverse demographic. Arts Barge will present experiences which are immersive, unusual and exceptional and opportunities to experience and participate in different forms of creativity including dance, music, theatre, creative writing and spoken word. Arts Barge will facilitate physical, mental, social and emotional wellbeing through the arts. The space will also be used for Yoga and Tai Chi and other wellbeing classes and groups. There is no Arts Centre in York and the Arts Barge would address this gap in provision. The Arts Barge is for all the local community to meet, enjoy and benefit from all the arts together. Specific focus will be on supporting access for young people, families and the socially isolated. 

Who are we?

The Arts Barge Project is run by volunteers. It is a Community Benefit Society and has three Co-directors: Hannah West, Hannah Hutchinson and Christian Topman. We have been delivering community arts events and festivals with creative partners since 2009 - always with a view to converting and using an ex-working barge as a base for events. Valued core members have come and gone and we couldn't have done it without them - but we're still here - we knew it then and we know it now - York needs this!!

From left to right: Karl Acaster: Waterman, Al Hamilton: Joiner, David Spencer: Architect, Christian Topman: Community Musician, Hannah Hutchinson: Furniture Maker, Marcia Mackey: former Children's Social Care Consultant, Hannah West: Art Therapist.