Supported by players of People's Postcode Lottery, these new pieces of canal art have taken inspiration from the local community and its links with the canal. "The Piece" was developed by holding workshops with children in schools in Foleshill, Coventry.
Their ideas were then taken and amalgamated into a single design by artists working with Brink Contemporary Arts, who are a street art collective based locally.
Celebrating ribbon weaving
The Piece celebrates the ribbon weaving industry as a cottage industry when the Coventry Canal was first cut. Ribbon weaving was Coventry's main industry from the early 1700s to the 1860s.
During this period about half its population made a living from ribbon weaving and Coventry was the main centre of ribbon production in England. After 1860 ribbon weaving declined but the weaving companies began producing woven badges, labels, bookmarks and pictures.
The design also incorporates a phoenix rising up from the towpath symbolising the amazing transformation and rebirth of Coventry Canal from a fly tipped backwater to a green flag award winning canal. Work that has been mainly carried out by hundreds of volunteers and community members who have made the Coventry canal something the city can once again be proud of.
