February 2024Our annual programme of Winter Subsidised Residencies continues throughout February, bringing national and international artists, writers, and researchers to Cove Park. We are delighted to welcome a number of former residents and Cove Park Associates, including writer Kirsty Crawford, musician and artist Lucy Duncombe, multidisciplinary artist and researcher Ashanti Harris, and visual artist Izzy Thompson. They are joined by those coming to Cove Park for the first time: artist and curator Nkule Mabaso, musician, artist, writer, and producer Andy Monoghan, writer Hannah Thomas Uose, oboist, improviser and practice-led researcher Maureen Wolloshin, and writer, tutor, and mentor Alison Woodhouse. We are also very pleased to host for the first time New Mothers' Writing Circle for a micro-residency devised by Producer and NMWC Director Catrin Kemp.
A number of other group residencies take place this month, including The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland's Innovation Studio Staff Residency and the return of The Flames, the performance company for artists aged 50+ of Tricky Hat Productions, a company that makes theatre
with and about people who live on the margins of our society. Read on for announcements of the artists taking part in three major new programmes coming up in March: Landscapes & Horizons, Musical Theatre Writing Residency, and Creative Residencies for Carers. We are also very pleased to announce the recipient of the 2024 Cove Park/Varuna Residency Exchange programme and to share details of the open call for the reciprocal residency for a writer and former Cove Park resident in Australia in 2025. February also sees the announcement of a new Argyll Heritage Craft Residency and the launch of Rainforest Communities, a project connecting communities across our region. Finally, please scroll down for details of our Space Hire programme, Project Studios first trip to Sculpture House in Paisley, and February's Saturday Studios Workshop led
this month by visual artist Adam Lewis Jacob. Image: above, the view of Loch Long from Cove Park (photography, Alan Dimmick)
Landscapes & Horizons:
Residencies AnnouncedLandscapes & Horizons is a new group residency for Scotland-based artists and cultural practitioners aged over 40 and from refugee and other migrant backgrounds. The residency, which begins this month, is developed in collaboration with Cross Borders at Scottish Refugee Council and Luminate, Scotland's creative ageing organisation. We are excited to announce the six artists participating in this new programme: artist and social art practitioner Paria Goodarzi, artist Haleh Jamali, artist and curator Oleksandra Novatska, artist, writer, and painter Daria Oskolkova, artist Iman Tajik, and multidisciplinary artist Ako Zada. This one-week residency includes facilitated workshops led by Nicholas Bone (Artistic Director of theatre company Magnetic North), Mariem Omari (writer, activist, co-founder and Co-Director of theatre company Bijli), and Michaela Blair (Argyll-based environmentalist). These group workshops complement the time each artist has to focus exclusively upon their own work and we are grateful to our partners for their support with this new programme. Images: above, Iman Tajik; below, Paria Goodarzi.
Musical Theatre Writing ResidencyWe are delighted to announce the artists taking part in our upcoming Musical Theatre Writing Residency.
This programme is a major creative collaboration led by Cove Park and Dundee Rep alongside twelve Scottish and international partner organisations, helping to develop world-class stage work for audiences throughout the UK and beyond.
The artist collaborators will include Scotland/UK-based artists Debbie Hannan and Andy McGregor; Linda McLean and David Paul Jones; Samir Bhamra, Devesh Sodha and Robby Khela; Jonathan O’Neill and Isaac Savage; US-artists Nikki Lynette and Lili-Anne Brown; and India-based artists Sushma Soma and Neel Chaudhuri. The residency has been devised by Andrew Panton, Artistic Director of Dundee Rep, and will include facilitated sessions with Dramaturg Jeanie O’Hare (formerly Director of New Work Development at The Public Theater), Music Supervisor James McKeon (Musical Director: Moulin Rouge! The Musical, London), Donna Lynn Hilton, Artistic Director of Goodspeed Musicals, Connecticut and David Greig, Artistic Director of Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh. Shonagh Murray joins as
Associate Musical Supervisor, with Imogen Stirling, supported by Playwrights’ Studio Scotland, joining as Associate Dramaturg. The creatives will benefit from networking opportunities and workshop sessions, both in-person and digital, with industry-leading writers, composers, producers, directors, and other theatre practitioners – including Tony Award-winning director John Doyle, Tony and Grammy Award-winning producer Mara Isaacs, and Tony Award-winning producer Rashad V. Chambers. Images: above,
Sushma Soma; below, Jonathan O'Neill and Isaac Savage.
Creative Residencies for Carers 2024
Residencies AnnouncedLaunching in 2024, this new group residency is for unpaid adult carers based in Scotland. It is designed to support those who may be working, or have worked, as artists and creative practitioners, but aren't now able to develop their own creative practice, careers, or interests due to their caring commitments. Following an open call for applications, we are very pleased to confirm that the five residencies have been awarded to performer and theatre maker Lucy Beth, writer Ann Greer, printed textile artist and designer Joanna Kinnersly-Taylor, artist and writer Heather Marshall, and music producer, singer, and sound artist Fiona Soe Paing. We look forward to welcoming the artists in March. This programme is made possible with funding from the Short Breaks Fund operated by Shared Care Scotland. Images: above, courtesy of Heather Marshall; below, Fiona Soe Paing (courtesy of the artist).
Cove Park / Varuna Residency Exchange Programme 2024 - 2025:
Cove Park Residency AnnouncedThe Cove Park / Varuna - The National Writers' House of Australia Residency Exchange Programme was launched in 2019 to create new international opportunities for writers connected to both organisations. To date, and with support from The Bridge Awards, we have created three one-month residencies in Australia awarded to the writers and former Cove Park residents Jan Carson, Victoria Mackenzie, and Nicola White, and three one-month residencies in Scotland for former Varuna residents Roanna Gonsalves, Leah Kaminsky, and Jeanine Leane. Following a call for
applications from writers connected to Varuna's residency programme, we are very pleased to announce that the 2024 residency at Cove Park has been awarded to Brooke Robinson. Brooke is a playwright and novelist from Western Sydney. Her professionally produced plays include Bad Machine (Campbelltown Arts Centre, 2022) and Good Cook. Friendly. Clean (Griffin Theatre, 2018), both published by Currency Press. Her debut novel, The Interpreter, was published in 2023 with Harvill Secker/Penguin Random House in Australia, the UK and Commonwealth, and HarperCollins in the USA. We are delighted that Brooke will also participate in the Wigtown Book Festival during her time in Scotland. Image: Brooke Robinson (photography, Agatha Snow)
Cove Park / Varuna Residency Exchange Programme 2024 - 2025
Call for Applications for Varuna ResidencyThe announcement of the residency at Cove Park for a writer and former Varuna resident coincides with the call for applications from Cove Park Associates and former residents for the reciprocal one-month fully funded residency in Australia in 2025. The deadline for applications is Monday 4 March 2024 and the residency dates are 13 October to 10 November 2025. Further information and the link to the online application form is available here. Read the blog by East Belfast-based
writer Jan Carson on her Varuna residency in 2023 here. Images: above, Roanna Gonsalves at Cove Park, 2019 (photography, Alan Dimmick); below, landscape near Varuna (photography, Nicola White).
The Argyll Heritage Craft Residency 2024
Call for ApplicationsWe are delighted to announce a new residency for 2024 made possible with support from the Crerar Trust. The Argyll Heritage Craft Residency is for an Argyll-based maker and is scheduled to take place from 1-14 July 2024. Contemporary craft and design have been key aspects of Cove Park’s annual programme since 2000 and many of the participating makers have employed traditional craft processes, materials, designs, and techniques in the production of their work. However, this is the first time Cove Park has offered a dedicated residency designed to support a
maker based in Argyll whose work focuses upon the preservation of traditional craft skills and processes, with the aim of preserving and promoting these skills for future generations. Further information and details on how to apply by Monday 1 April are available here. Image: Cove Park studios (photography, Alan Dimmick).
The Argyll Beacon Announces New Project:
'Rainforest Communities'In 2021 Cove Park and ACT: Argyll & the Isles Coast & Countryside Trust came together as the Argyll Beacon. The Beacon, which is part of Creative Carbon Scotland's Climate Beacons network, develops creative commissions, events, and community-focussed projects connected to Argyll's rainforests and ancient woodlands. The Argyll Beacon is one of
three to be awarded funding to support new projects in 2024. Our project will see the development of a Rainforest Community Network, bringing together landowners and local communities around the shared goal of preserving the region’s temperate rainforests, with a particular focus on Kintyre and Tighnabruaich. Activities will include an Artists-in-Schools programme, guided nocturnal forest walks, family events and volunteering opportunities as well as an important ‘pledge day’ where community members will be invited to guarantee their future involvement in restoring and conserving the rainforests. Read more on the 2024 projects here and for further information please contact Cove Park's Curator of Engagement Emma Henderson. Images above, Cove Park's site; below, artist Juliana Capes and pupils of Lochgilphead High School as part of the Argyll Beacon's 2021 Artists in Schools programme.
Space Hire 2024Space Hire was launched in 2023 to welcome other arts organisations, companies, and community groups to Cove Park for meetings and away days. In the programme's first year we were pleased to host The Common Guild, Comhairle nan Leabhraichean / The Gaelic Books Council, Glasgow International, The Mount Stuart Trust, Scottish Opera, and the University of Glasgow (Contemporary Art & Curation). In 2024 we will continue to offer beautiful spaces with outstanding views at very competitive rates throughout the year. Please contact Nicola Jamieson directly for more information and to discuss your specific requirements. Mount Stuart Trust had a brilliant Away Day at Cove Park. We had a dedicated meeting room, fabulous views, and everything we needed: screen, refreshments, and lunch. I can honestly say that it was one of our most productive strategy meetings. So important to get away, and I can't think of a better space.
Sophie Crichton Stuart, Chair, The Mount Stuart Trust Image: The Jacobs Building, Cove Park (photography, Alan Dimmick).
Project Studio:
Trip to Sculpture House, Paisley
Tuesday 12 March 2024We are excited to share news of Project Studio's first trip! As an addition to the monthly workshop activities taking place in Helensburgh, we are inviting everyone involved with Project Studio to come on a trip to Sculpture House in Paisley. Free transport will leave from Hermitage Academy, Helensburgh, at 3.30pm. Sculpture House is run by an artists collective with a passion for sculpture and social inclusion. It has a wonderful range of facilities and spaces that support a range of inclusive activities. The artists - including former Cove Park residents
Laura Aldridge, Nick Evans, James Rigler, and Laura Spring - are working
alongside community partners to develop the House into a living work of art. It also has a dye garden to grow plants that can be used for printing and dyeing textiles. The trip is a chance to see an artists collective in action, meet the artists, explore the studios and workspaces, and hear about the House's many amazing projects. For more details and to book your free place please visit Cove Park's Eventbrite page. For further information, please contact Emma Henderson. Images above, Sculpture House, Paisley (courtesy of Nick Evans).
Saturday Studio
'Start. Stop. Start.' with Adam Lewis Jacob
24 February 2024Cove Park's Saturday Studio workshops contine on Saturday 24 February at Hermitage Park Pavilion, Helensburgh. A morning workshop will run from 10am to 12noon, and an afternoon workshop will take place from 2-4pm. Led by visual artist and former resident Adam Lewis Jacob, these free animation workshops are for children aged 5+. Adam will demonstrate a variety of
techniques using a range of materials, collage, and clay to set scenes and create animations. Together everyone will explore what makes a good animation, how they can be used, and their potential to tell stories and convey ideas. For more information and to reserve your free place, please visit Cove Park's Eventbrite page. For further information please contact Emma Henderson. Our current Saturday Studio Workshops are made possible with support
from Argyll & Bute Council. Images, above, courtesy of Adam Lewis Jacob; below, Saturday Studios participant (photography, Emma Henderson).
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