Bringing Street Painting back to life in the UK

Northwest, UK based pavement artists, UrbanCanvas (Philip Battle and Catherine McMahon) were established in 1997, when they took over the organising of The International Festival of Street Art, which originally was part of Liverpool’s annual visual arts festival VISIONFEST. This was a precursor to The Liverpool Biennial (International festival of contemporary art).  

The International Festival of Street Art was a celebration of all forms of ‘live public art’ from street-painting to puppetry and performance art. It was organised by UrbanCanvas for six years until 2003. Alongside this, they had been presenting their own brand of pavement art at festivals and events around the UK, which included a major project in Londonderry, Northern Ireland; decorating the historic city walls with art, bringing both Catholics and Protestants together through art.  

2003 saw UrbanCanvas organising the first St Helens Arts Festival in conjunction with St Helens Council. It was also the year that they paid their first visit to the Singapore Arts Festival, and took part in the Queen’s Birthday Celebrations by decorating the entrance to the British High Commission in Singapore. They returned again to Singapore in 2005 (KIDSFEST) and 2012 (ION Art Gallery)

They have passionately promoted the idea of interactive and ‘live’ pavement art to all parts of the UK and abroad, and have appeared at festivals and events, both large and small in almost every city and town in the UK. Their international work includes taking part in The St Patrick’s Day celebrations in Dublin, Ireland, The International Street Arts Festival in Waterford, Ireland, The Dubai Shopping Festival UAE, The Bahrain Grand Prix, The Urban Youth Festival in Abu Dhabi UAE, Istinye Park Promotion in Turkey and festivals and events throughout Belgium, Holland, Berlin and Singapore.

In 2008, UrbanCanvas took centre stage as Liverpool became European Capital of Culture, and in partnership with Open Culture Liverpool, they organised the first British festival of Screeving; the International James Carling Pavement Art Competition; named after the Liverpool born Victorian screever (pavement artist) James William Carling. They organised the James Carling Competition until 2011. 

For over twenty years, UrbanCanvas have continued to provide innovative workshops and events for the whole family and casual passers-by on the street, the length and breadth of the UK, throughout Europe and beyond! They introduced the world’s first-ever participatory 3D pavement art project in 2010 in Canary Wharf, and have rediscovered the lost art of the British Screever;  their first book was published in Sept 2015 “Lady Screever” discovering and documenting the life of the first female pavement artist: Alice Colman (1874-1934).

This year, in 2021, celebrates our 25th year as professional pavement artists and as we look back on our career, it seems the right time to explore and develop further this historical and rich content of the wonderful world of “Screeving” for generations to come.

COMMENTS ABOUT UrbanCanvas:

  • “By taking street art seriously you have given it credibility!”
    • In 2002 Michael Simpson of the WALKER ART GALLERY, Liverpool (now Head of Visual Arts and Engagement at the Lowry Centre, Manchester)
  • “What you shared with the people during The Singapore Arts Festival was nothing less than superb.  A chance of a lifetime that doesn’t come around often and very much an eye-opener to what art is all about. I guess we were all grateful for the opportunities to get down on our knees, decorating the streets, bringing it to “life”; I hope you enjoyed your stay in Singapore and we’ll be more than happy to have Urban Canvas back!” 
    • Eileen Saw – The National Arts Council of Singapore (2003)
  • “It takes exceptional talent to create real art with complete strangers”
    • Ben Verwaayen, Chief executive, British Telecom (2005)
  • “I am aware of the outstanding work you have undertaken in terms of street art in the city!”
    • Keith Davis, Chief executive- Liverpool’s European Capital of Culture (2008)
  • “You are developing an art form within its own right!”
    • Dr Catherine Marcangeli, Art Historian, Université de Paris (2004)
  • UrbanCanvas: “bringing street painting back to life in the UK”
    • Anna Heim- Project Director, 3 WAY SPLIT (2012)
  • ‘UrbanCanvas were an absolute pleasure to work with, from planning to the event day itself. Catherine and Philip were flexible, accommodating and their passion for participation engagement is clear to see. They transformed a community square in our borough bringing fun and life to the area during what has been a very hard year for its residents. I cannot recommend Urban Canvas highly enough. Thank you and I hope to work with you guys again in the future.’
    • Matthew Wright– Programmer at Harrow Arts Centre (2021)

Some Notable Events: 

Organised by UrbanCanvas:

  • The International Festival of Street Art: three-day event in Liverpool, New Brighton & Southport (1998-2003)
  • GLOW Festival: one-day event, pavement art around the historic Gloucester Docks (2002)
  • The St Helens Arts Festival: four-week event on the streets of the market town of St Helens (2003)
  • Alive After Five – Contemporary street arts festival: a four-week event, Liverpool 2009
  • The James Carling International Pavement Art Competition: one-day event, Liverpool (2008-2011)
  • Coloured Earth International Pavement Art Festival: three-day event, Gloucester, Crewe, Halifax (2017- 2019)
  • Lockdown Virtual Online Pavement Art Festival– UK/ Bandol S.France (27 Jul – 2 Aug 2020)
  • Lockdown Virtual Online Pavement Art Festival– UK/Stawell Australia (1-6 Sept 2020)
  • Lockdown Virtual Online Pavement Art Festival-UK/Texas US (17-22 Nov 2020)

Taken part in (to name but a few ☺):

  • The Dubai Shopping Festival: five weeks, at venues around Dubai, UAE (1997)
  • The Londonderry Walled City Festival: four days around the city walls, Derry, Northern Ireland (2001)
  • Streets Ahead MIA Manchester (2001)
  • The Singapore Arts Festival: 14 days, at venues around Singapore (2003)
  • The Queen’s Birthday Celebrations: British High Commission, Singapore (2003)
  • Singapore KIDSFEST (Singapore Arts Festival) 12-day event (2005)
  • The Bahrain Grand Prix: four days at The Bahrain International Circuit (2007)
  • The City of London Festival: four days around the square mile of the city of London (2008)
  • The British Olympic Games Handover Ceremony: one day, London (2008) 
  • The Valkenburg International Pavement Art Festival: three days, Holland (2010
  • Abu Dhabi Urban Arts Festival: seven days around Abu Dhabi, UAE (2010)
  • The Olympic Games Cultural Olympiad: full year, at various venues across the UK (2012)
  • The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Celebrations: full year, at various venues across the UK (2012) 
  • The ION Gallery: 14 days; bringing pavement art INSIDE & involving over 800 kids! Singapore (2012)
  • Mersey River Festival: two-day event (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017)
  • Lollapalooza Festival Berlin: three-day event (2015)
  • Surge Festival Glasgow: seven-day event (2017)
  • Summer Streets Festival St Helens:  two-day event (2014-2018)
  • Lakes Alive Festival Kendal: two-day event (2019)
  • Museum of the Moon Festival (2019)
  • Harrogate International Arts Festival (2019)
  • Festival of Thrift Yorkshire (2020)
  • Harrow Arts Welcoming Back Program (2021)

Notable Awards:

  • Winners of the Manchester Airport Arts Award (2001)
  • First prize winners of The Colours of Valkenburg International Street Painting Competition (2010) 
Areas of work
Visual Arts

Additional Areas of Focus
Community Engagement, Family Friendly, Participatory
2022-01-22T12:28:25+00:00
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