January 2021

Welcome back!

This new year is already proving to be extremely challenging for everyone, but we hope that it will soon become a year of deep solidarity and powerful change at political, social, environmental and personal level. We want to wish our artists, friends and supporters joy, calm and determination for 2021.

Scottish Government regulations and the nationwide lockdown mean Cove Park is currently closed. The team is continuing to work remotely and will be reviewing guidance continually, posting updates on our status and programme via our website and social media. Despite the temporary closure of the site, Hands-On Cove Park's series of free online workshops begins again this month and families are invited to register via the link below for the first workshop with artist Ursula Cheng on 30 January 2021.

Cove Park's residency programme will not start this month as planned, but we will be using this period of lockdown to begin work on the refurbishment of our Oak and Taransay Pods, building upon the extensive upgrades made last year to three of our Cubes. We have exciting news to share about the refurbishment of Oak and Taransay Pods in our February Newsletter and will give more details on our plans next month.

We are very pleased to announce an award made to Cove Park this month by The William Syson Foundation. This award comes at a particularly crucial moment and we are grateful for the support of the Foundation's Trustees.

Cove Park's new Chief Executive Officer, Francesca Bertolotti-Bailey, is now in post and working on site from Cove Park. We are delighted that Francesca has contributed to this Newsletter, below, and the team look forward to working with her this year.

We hope this finds you and all your friends and family safe and well.

Image: Cove Park's Site, Oak & Taransay Pods (photography, Martin Gibb)

Francesca Bertolotti-Bailey at Cove Park

Hello everyone! After two months of excited anticipation, I finally arrived at Cove Park last week, and am now trying really hard to look less at my screen and more at the landscape, which is beyond words… This new lockdown means that I am here alone with my family, unable to meet with my colleagues, but at least I have the time and space to absorb the atmosphere of Cove Park, explore its surroundings and settle into the new life. The decision to close Cove Park until the end of February comes with a major benefit: the opportunity and the responsibility to focus our collective intelligence on the future of the organisation. I am determined to use this time of intense remote working to discuss and decide upon many positive changes to all aspects of the institution, from the programme to the site, from the collaborations to the operations, all the way through to its overall ethos. I look forward to personally welcoming as many of you as possible once we emerge from this forced hibernation – hopefully in the Spring, when I am sure the view from the Artists Centre will be even more majestic than it is already.

Image: Loch Long and the hills of Cowal Peninsula, January 2021 (photography, Francesca Bertolotti-Bailey)

Hands-On Cove Park at Home

Our first online workshop of the year, Wire Face Portraits, takes place on Saturday 30 January. This event is led by the Edinburgh-based visual artist Ursula Cheng and is open to children from 3 years upwards and their families. Working via Zoom, participants will create self-portraits using malleable sculpture wire, paper and other household materials. To find out more and to register for one of two free workshops on 30 January (the first from 10am - 11am and the second from 11.30am - 12.30pm) please visit our Eventbrite page.

Registered participants will receive by post an activity pack containing all the materials and equipment required for this workshop. For further information on this workshop and our HOCP at Home programme please write to Emma Henderson.

We look forward to seeing you online this month and to welcoming you back to HOCP at Home!

Image: Wire Face, Ursula Cheng.

Support Cove Park and become a Supporter, Friend or Patron in 2021

Cove Park launched a new Supporter, Friend and Patron programme last year, coinciding with our 20th anniversary, and we are happy to welcome all those that have joined us so far. Clearly 2021 will prove to be an equally challenging year for artists, organisations and charities working in the cultural sector. We are grateful for the support we received last year from Creative Scotland and several trusts and foundations, making it possible to maintain our commitment to artists and to offer creative learning programmes in the immediate term for those in our local community and beyond. However, in this time of great uncertainty, the new lockdown means we continue to face a considerable loss in income from independently-funded residencies and partnership projects, which is vital for the delivery and development of our entire programme. 

Please join us by becoming a Supporter, Friend or Patron in 2021 and help to secure Cove Park's future at this critical time. We offer a number of ways for individuals and groups to support our work, take part in our programme and spend time at one of Scotland's most beautiful locations. To find our more and to join Cove Park please visit our Support Us page.

As a registered charity Cove Park welcomes all donations, small or large. Gifts of any amount will make an enormous difference to our work. Please donate today if you can. Thank you!

Image: Cove Park's Artists Centre, June 2019 (photography, Alan Dimmick)