Sound Studio:
Appointment of Cameron Webster Architects

In August 2025 Cove Park confirmed a major award from The Bridge Awards for the development of a new workspace for musicians and sound artists. This award coincided with Cove Park’s 25^th anniversary year and a new programme of residencies for national and international artists, commissions, and special events.

This month, we are delighted to confirm the appointment of the multi award-winning architecture practice Cameron Webster Architects (CWA) for the design of Sound Studio and an adjacent new unit of residency accommodation.

CWA is a multi-award-winning Glasgow based architecture practice of dedicated professionals whose partners have 30 years of experience in designing buildings across all genres, with a particular specialism in high-end bespoke houses. CWA’s approach to design is contemporary with an emphasis on sustainability. Its client focused methodology has led to a range of high-profile projects featuring a meticulous attention to detail, light and materials, resulting in buildings with uplifting interiors that sit seamlessly within their surroundings. 

The practice has a strong track record of outstanding work across the Loch Lomond National Park and Argyll & Bute. Recent examples of their work in this region include Rock Cove (Cove), Lunga Bothies (Ardfern), and Loch Etive Bothies (Bonawe, Loch Etive). As one of Scotland’s most recognised small practices, CWA’s experience and skill will be of significant value to the design of Sound Studio.

CWA were also the architects of The Jacobs Building at Cove Park, a beautiful, flexible, and generous space for Cove Park’s residents, programme participants, and visitors. Completed in 2016 – and named after Cove Park’s founders Eileen and Peter Jacobs - today’s announcement comes as the Jacobs Building embarks upon its second decade and continues to offer outstanding spaces for research, meetings, workshops, performances, dinners, and other special events.

Sound Studio will be a soundproofed and acoustically designed muti-use space designed with the needs of musicians and sound artists in mind. CWA will work on the acoustic treatment with White Mark, a leading international consultancy specialising in world-class recording studios and acoustic environments. The design team and Cove Park are supported by Project Manager John Alexander, of the Glasgow-based company Alexander PM.

Further information is available in the accompanying Media Release and details of forthcoming music and sound residencies will be shared in future Newsletters.

Images: above, Rock Cove, Argyll, CWA Architects (photography, Paul Tyagi); below, the Jacobs Building at Cove Park, CWA Architects (photography, Tracey Bloxham).

Design Ecologies:
Resident Announcement

The Design Ecologies Residency is a new residency developed in partnership with IASPIS: the Swedish Arts Grants Committee’s international programme for visual and applied arts. It develops from  the pilot residency Food Ecologies, an exchange programme between Scotland and Sweden. 

Following an open call for applications, we are pleased to announce that the recipient of the Design Ecologies Residency is Alexandra Papademetriou.

Alexandra is an artist, researcher, and designer based in Gothenburg, Sweden. Working through social engagement and text, her work explores how artistic practices can provide the testing ground for environmental and social change, cultivating a sense of interdependency with the more-than-human. Using shared learning as method, she aims to facilitate interdisciplinary dialogues and collaborations.

Alexandra will use her time at Cove Park to (re-)develop The Degrowth Toolbox for Artistic Practices, her ongoing project examining the application of degrowth values within artistic practice.

Image: 'Like roots splitting a stone', Alexandra Papademetriou (image courtesy of the artist).

Interweaving Threads Residency:
Resident Announcement

The Interweaving Threads: Scotland & Norway Through Dress Residency is part of a new programme for textile artists, designers, and makers based in Scotland and in Norway. The residency aspect of this programme supports one artist/designer/maker based in Scotland and one based in Norway, providing fully-funded residencies at MUHO in Norway in April 2026 and at Cove Park in May 2026.

Following a call for applications, we are delighted to announce that the residencies have been awarded to Ingrid Bjørnevog Haugnes (Norway) and Owen Edward Snaith (Scotland). Based in Oslo, Haugnes is a textile craft practitioner, artist and designer. Her practice is grounded in long-term work with Norwegian folk dress and bunad, exploring garments as living structures shaped by labour, care, and repair. Owen is a Scottish designer working across fashion, textile design, and mixed media art. Snaith's work explores traditional Scottish dress, the uniforms of east coast fisherfolk and his own identity. A poetic queer thread weaves throughout his work, which is grounded in craftsmanship, collaboration, and community. 

The year-long project Interweaving: Scotland and Norway through Dress launched in October 2025 with a special two-day event in Edinburgh addressing the similarities and differences between traditional Norwegian and Scottish dress and textiles. The project partners are The Norwegian Institute of Bunad and Folk Costume, Arts & Culture Norway, MUHO, Cove Park, art historian Dr.Kitty Corbet Milward, curator and anthropologist Maja Musum and The National Museum of Scotland for research and inspiration.

Images: above, Owen Edward Snaith, Lighthouse Soho Opening, Portrait, 2025 (photography Carys Huws); below, the process of making a Bunad (image courtesy of Ingrid Bjørnevog Haugnes).

NAARCA x Future Island-Island

We are excited to announce NAARCA’s role in the ongoing development of Future Island-Island, an AHRC-funded project led by Professor Justin Magee at Belfast School of Art, Ulster University and Dr Clare Mulhollan, School of Natural and Built Environment, Queens University Belfast. This initiative brings together community members, academics, and practitioners to co-create design-led research for a greener, more sustainable Northern Ireland economy.

Future Island-Island is a £6.6M project that started in 2023. As a Co-Investigator partner in phase two of this £2.5M stage (running through 2028), NAARCA will contribute to The East Light – A Creativity-led Strategy for a Sustainable Knowledge Economy on Rathlin Island.

NAARCA will organise sustainability-focused residencies centred on skills development, knowledge exchange, and mentorship. These residencies will foster island-driven creativity around eco-themes and provide training on hosting and facilitating future programmes as part of Rathlin’s emerging Knowledge Economy. 

Learn more at naarca.art 

The Nordic Alliance of Artists’ Residencies on Climate Action – NAARCA – unites Artica Svalbard (Norway), Cove Park (Scotland), Narsaq International Research Station (Greenland), Saari Residence (Finland), and Skaftfell Art Center (Iceland) to collaborate on research, commissions, institutional change, residency exchange, and public education around climate action.

Image: Rathlin East Light (courtesy of Future Island-Island) 

NAARCA Residencies Announced

Following an open call for applications, we are delighted to announce the selection of four artists taking part in our 2026 NAARCA residency exchange. 

Cecilia Fiona based in Copenhagen works across sculpture, painting and performance developing an interconnected practice in which each medium extends and informs the other. During her NAARCA Residency at Skaftfell Art Center in Iceland, Cecilia plans to create a new body of work – costumes made from wool and plants to be used in a new performance.

Hillside Projects is an artistic entity based in Stockholm and formed by Emily Berry Mennerdahl and Jonas Böttern. During their NAARCA Residency at Cove Park, they will establish a temporary Office for Continuing Research on Birds focusing on Gandalf – a Rüppell’s Griffon vulture known for two high-profile escapes from the World of Wings Birds of Prey Centre in Cumbernauld in 2010 and 2014. HP aims to develop a new lecture performance, including relational birding activities and conceptual experiments in Argyll's ancient woodland. 

Christina Riley is a Scottish-American artist based in Ayrshire. Founder of The Nature Library and author of Looking Down at the Stars: Life Beneath the Waves, she works across photography, writing and installation to consider the stories told of and by the natural world, as well as the value of, and access to, these stories in times of climate, cost of living and misinformation crises. During her NAARCA Residency at Saari Residence in Finland, Christina will continue developing The Nature Library with the aim to move it toward new, ambitious spaces.

Read more about these artists and the NAARCA Residencies programme at naarca.art 

Image: Courtesy of Cecilia Fiona and Copenhagen Contemporary (photography, David Stjernholm). 

Call for Applications
Radcliffe Heritage Craft Residency

This fully funded residency is for a Scotland-based maker and is scheduled to take place at Cove Park from Monday 6 April to Monday 20 April 2026.

This dedicated residency is designed to support makers whose work focuses upon the preservation of traditional craft skills and processes with the aim of preserving and promoting these skills for future generations.

These include, but are not limited to: textile craft, horn work, Shepherd’s Crook and stick making, curling stones, Fair Isle chairs, Orkney chairs, Shetland chairs, spinning wheels, traditional boat building, Galloway clogs, woodturning, basketwork, musical instrument making, staved vessels, barrel making, silver making and jewellery, quaichs, bookbinding, iron work, ropework, and stonemasonry.

This residency is designed to support the development of new work, research, and experimentation. Makers should draw on cultural heritage as a source of inspiration, and we welcome applications from those seeking to deepen and enrich their understanding of the past while creating contemporary interpretations

Learn more and apply by 9 February here. 

Image: Patrick Davison (photography, Alan Dimmick)

Final Call
Subsidised Winter Residencies 2026

Last chance to apply for Subsidised Winter Residencies taking place in March 2026!

We welcome artists, cultural practitioners, writers, and researchers – from every creative and academic discipline – able to meet the costs of a residency through, for example, the direct support of their own academic institutions or via awards from public funders or foundations.

Residencies are self-directed and designed to ensure those taking part have the time and facilities required to develop their own work. Cove Park’s small and dedicated professional team are happy to support the research and work of all our residents, and are available for informal conversations and meetings, in preparation for and during the residency period.

We have very limited availability in March. Learn more and apply here. 

Image: The Jacobs Building in Winter.

 Recruiting Now:
Site, Facilities & Compliance Manager

We are seeking an experienced buildings manager to oversee Cove Park’s 50-acre site and facilities. The Site, Facilities, & Compliance Manager is responsible for the maintenance, development, and safety of Cove Park’s 50-acre site and facilities. This includes health and safety, security, and the servicing of all facilities to ensure they meet the needs of the organisation, our residents, visitors, and team.

If this role is of interest, please refer to our Recruitment Pack. The deadline for applications is 5pm on Monday 26 January 2026.

Image: the Jacobs Building at Cove Park.

Saturday Studio - Adult Workshops:
Painting with Plants
28 February

In February, we are pleased to continue our Saturday Studio programming and introduce new creative activity for adults. 

Artist and Cove Park's Curator of Engagement Emma Henderson will introduce painting with colour extracted from plants. You’ll learn simple methods for drawing pigment from natural materials and turning them into watercolour paints.

We’ll also experiment with shifting colour by changing the pH of the paint. Many natural pigments respond dramatically to acids and alkalis, allowing a surprising range of colours to be created from a single plant.

This session combines practical making with playful experimentation, offering a gentle introduction to plant-based colour and natural pigments.

The afternoon workshop (2pm - 4:30pm) is free and designed for children and their families. Adults without accompanying children are invited to attend the workshop in the morning (10am - 12:30pm). 

We are piloting paid adult workshops to help subsidise our free Saturday Studios programme. Your fee for this workshop covers our costs and enables us to continue providing free creative activities for children and young people.

Book your place via our TicketTailor page. 

Image: Cove Park engagement workshop

Friends of Cove Park

Cove Park is proud to have a growing community of supporters who believe in the vital work we do to promote national and international cultural exchange and ensure our local rural community has access to innovative and creative learning opportunities as well as protecting the biodiversity of our site.

By becoming a Friend of Cove Park, you will help us to enrich arts, culture and creativity in Argyll and across Scotland, support the global exchange of ideas through our artist residences and save the natural heritage of Cove Park as a space for everyone to enjoy. Wherever you are, you will know your donation is making a vital contribution to the work of Cove Park and our support of artists. If Cove Park and our work means something to you, please consider becoming a Friend today. Learn more and join here. 

If you are based in the United States, you can join our American Friends of Cove Park, our tax-effective annual giving programme. 

Image: Studio Visit, August 2023. 

Space Hire 2026

Space Hire welcomes arts organisations, companies, and community groups to Cove Park for meetings and away days. Recent Space Hire participants include: The Common Guild, Comhairle nan Leabhraichean / The Gaelic Books Council, Glasgow International, Missing in Architecture (Glasgow School of Art), The Mount Stuart Trust, Rhubaba, Scottish Opera, and the University of Glasgow (Contemporary Art & Curation).

Our new Space Hire pack contains more information with images of our beautiful spaces and what we offer. 

Please submit an enquiry form or contact Nicola Jamieson directly for more information and to discuss your specific requirements. 

Scottish Ensemble hired The Monument Trust Room at Cove Park for our Staff Away Day in September 2025. The opportunity to go somewhere beautiful, inspiring, and different from our day-to-day setting was just what our team needed to get our thinking caps on. We were given a very warm welcome from Alexia and her team, and made to feel at home right away. We’ll be back again next year!

James Hardie, Chief Executive, Scottish Ensemble

Image: Monument Trust Room (photography, Paul Tyagi)

From the Archive
Exploring Environment through Literature: Kathleen Jamie & Joséphine Bacon

In January 2022 Scotland's Makar Kathleen Jamie was joined by Innu writer Joséphine Bacon for readings of their own works followed by a discussion and Q&A facilitated by Dr Pauline Mackay, Associate Director of Robert Burns Studies at the University of Glasgow.

Marking the month when Scotland and the world celebrates Robert Burns’ poetry, we recorded two internationally acclaimed poets from Scotland and Québec, who share Burns’ strong appreciation for nature. Listen to this wonderful event here.

This event was presented by Cove Park in partnership with the Québec Government Office in London and Scottish Affairs for Canada, with the support of British Council and the collaboration of Scottish Poetry Library.

Image: Left, Kathleen Jamie; right, Joséphine Bacon.