March 2023

We are delighted to welcome cultural critic, poet, and writer Hatty Nestor this month, here for four weeks. Hatty is joined by Santtu Laine, recipient of the second Ecologies in the Making: Sculpting Futures residency, a partnership programme with Scottish Sculpture Workshop, and the Academy of Fine Arts Uniarts, Helsinki, supported by Saastamoinen Foundation.

We are also very pleased to welcome artist Alex Cecchetti, as part of our programme focusing upon European artists and projects, and  visual artist Carla Adra, here for a five week residency through Magnetic, a new Franco-UK network of artists residencies. Read on to find out more about both programmes and the artists.

Cove Park's current Subsidised Winter Residencies end in March and were awarded to visual artist, geographer, and researcher Anne Waggot Knott, textile and multidisciplinary artist Tajender Sagoo, and visual artist Chloe Windsor.

Independently funded residencies continue this month with novelist and short story writer Jane Alexander, co-founder of the Shetland-based visual arts workshop Gaada Daniel Clark, visual artist Titus Davies, multidisciplinary artist Freya Dooley, fibre and glass artist Sharon Epstein, psychologist, artist, and facilitator Myles-Jay Linton, visual artist Sheila MacNeill, printmaker Tomoko Otani, poet Anna Reckin, and visual artist Roger Suckling. Read on to find out how to take part in this programme, the launch of Space Hire at Cove Park, the call for applications for Making Tracks 2023, news of the next podcast in our current NAARCA series, and our forthcoming Saturday Studios Workshop.

Image: The Jacobs Building at Cove Park (photography, Alan Dimmick).

European Residency Programme 2023
Alex Cecchetti

We are thrilled to welcome the Paris-based artist Alex Cecchetti to Cove Park. During his residency Alex will work on the forthcoming publication for the project SENTIERO, winner of the Italian Council Prize of the Italian Ministry of Culture.

Part place-based intervention, part-community project, SENTIERO creates new paths among the mountains as an archetype for a journey towards the unknown, guided by human and non-human knowledge forms and accompanied by collaborators including plants, seasons and stars. SENTIERO, curated by Valerio Del Baglivo, was exhibited for the first time in Urtijëi/Ortisei for the eighth edition in 2022 of Biennale Gherdëina, curated by Lucia Pietroiusti and Filipa Ramos.

This residency is part of Cove Park's European Residency Programme, launched in 2019 and made possible with support from British Council Scotland and Creative Scotland. 

Image: Alex Cecchetti (photography by Chiara Pasqualini @kiapasqualini)

Magnetic 

Cove Park is the Scottish residency taking part in Magnetic, a Franco-UK network launched in 2022, bringing together organisations from France and from the UK to create a programme of funded residencies for visual artists based in both countries. 

We are delighted to welcome Carla Adra to Cove Park as part of this programme. Carla is a French and Canadian artist and performer with artistic and anthropological education in France, Canada and Mexico. Carla's five week residency supports research and the development of new work. 

Magnetic is a programme of Fluxus Art Projects, supported by the Institut français du Royaume-Uni, the Institut français, French Ministry of Culture, French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, Arts Council England, Creative Scotland, Arts Council of Wales/Wales International, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, the British Council, and its private patrons and friends.

Image: Ça te colle à la peau, Film HD, Mécène du Sud Montpellier Sète, Carla Adra, 2023

Making Tracks
Call for Applications

Making Tracks returns to Cove Park in October 2023 for its annual two-week residency. This international music exchange programme has an environmental focus, bringing together exceptional emerging artists with more experienced musicians. 

The open call for applications to take part in the 2023 programme is live and the deadline is 21 April 2023. More information is available on the Making Tracks website. Video profiles shot at Cove Park of all the 2022 Fellows can be found here.

Image: Making Tracks 2022, Public Performance at Cove Park.

Testing Grounds 
Episode Three Announced

The next episode of the podcast series Testing Grounds will be available from Friday 31 March. This edition, The Tensions of Environmental and Cultural Sustainability for Artists and Institutions, focuses upon Skaftfell Arts Center. Skaftfell is the Icelandic partner in NAARCA: the Nordic Alliance of Artists Residencies on Climate Action, a consortium co-founded by Cove Park and Saari Residence which is working together on new projects, residencies, commissions and this podcast series.

Skaftfell is based in Seyðisfjörður, a small but vibrant town in Eastern Iceland, surrounded by mountains and sea. Seyðisfjörður’s unique location and atmosphere has long attracted artists from all over the world. Its location makes it vulnerable to avalanches, mudslides and landslides, and in a changing climate, those threats are increasing.

The podcast features Julia Martin, an artist living in Seyðisfjörður and the former Project Manager at Skaftfell. She is joined by Pari Stave, Director of Skaftfell, and Jessica Auer, a photographer, filmmaker and educator living in Seyðisfjörður. Pari and Jessica explore some of the ways arts institutions and artists can be more mindful of the environment and of local landscapes and communities.

To subscribe and listen visit naarca.art/testing-grounds-podcast/ or search for Testing Grounds in your favourite podcast app.

Image: courtesy of Skaftfell Center of Visual Arts.

Independently Funded Residencies 2023

Cove Park hosts artists, writers, creative practitioners, researchers, and academics throughout the year as part of its Independently Funded Programme. Designed for individuals or collaborative groups with their own funding to meet the costs of a residency - perhaps through a grant, research bursary, or award - independently funded residencies can run for one or more weeks and participants are welcome to reserve studio space when available.

For further information please contact Nicola Jamieson directly.

Images, above: Cove Park, summer 2022; below, writer and resident Amna Saleem, a participant in our Independently Funded Programme in 2021.

Space Hire: Welcoming Organisations & Companies to Cove Park 

Space Hire is a new initiative to welcome organisations, companies and academic institutions to Cove Park for away days and meetings. The Monument Trust Room and The Robertson Trust Room, within Cove Park's award-winning Jacobs Building, are perfect for a range of events, meetings, and presentations, with the addition of outstanding scenery and hospitality.

Information on Space Hire is available here. 

Images, above: the interior of the Jacobs Building; below, the Robertson Trust Room (photography, Alan Dimmick).

Saturday Studios in March
After the Rain
A Filmmaking Workshop with Juliana Capes

This workshop for young people focuses on making short films on phones or tablets and is led by visual artist, filmmaker and former resident Juliana Capes. Taking inspiration from the landscape at Cove Park and its ever-changing changing weather, Juliana will share her own filmmaking techniques and encourage participants to explore how they feel about our weather and how this relates to climate change.

This workshop is offered as part of the Nordic Alliance of Artists’ Residencies on Climate Action programme of commissions, projects, and events. NAARCA is a 3-year project that brings together artists’ residencies from seven countries to collaborate on research, commissions, institutional change and education around climate action. For more information and to reserve your free place on the workshop please visit Cove Park's Eventbrite page.

Image: Courtesy of the artist.