Funded Residencies 

Following an open call for applications in 2022 we can now announce the recipients of our forthcoming funded residencies. We received an unprecedented number of applications last year and would like to thank everyone who applied.

This programme reflects our ongoing commitment to the support of local, national, and international artists, researchers, writers, and creative practitioners, working in all art forms and at every career stage. The residencies are fully funded and create opportunities for research, experimentation, production and peer-to-peer exchange. We are thrilled to include the following individuals and collaborations:

bare minimum collective: Diamond Abdulrahim, Vera Chapiro, Christie Costello, Lola Olufemi, Christine Pungong, Leo, England
Sayan Chanda, visual artist, England
Kirsty Crawford, writer, Scotland
Oliver Emanuel, playwright, Scotland
Andy Holden, visual artist, England
Kuppuswamy Ganesan, literary translator and writer, India
William Keohane, writer, Ireland
Zoe Lafferty, director and theatre maker, England
Lizzy Leech, theatre designer, England
Ayisha Malik, writer, England
Erin McQuarrie, maker, Scotland
Amit Noy, dancer, choreographer and writer, Aotearoa New Zealand)
Kathryn (Kechi) Nwajiaku-Dahou, writer, France
Andrew Rubens, literary translator and writer, Scotland
Hannah Sabapathy, maker, Scotland
Coby Sey, musician, songwriter and sound artist, England
Muslim Shaggan, vocal hereditary musician and performing artist, Pakistan
Csilla Toldy, literary translator and writer, Hungary & Northern Ireland
Jian Yi, contemporary dancer, performance artist and choreographer, Scotland

We would like to thank our Programme Advisors for their help this year: Daniyal Ahmed, Lauren Dyer Amazeen, Darren Appiagyei, Jordan Baseman, Ashanti Harris, Vincenzo Latronico, Emmie McLuskey, Heather Parry, Saffy Setohy, and Shireen Taylor.

A New Approach to our Programme

2023 sees a new approach to our funded residencies, specifically the move from a one year to a two-year programming cycle. This means funded residencies awarded this year will take place in 2023 and in 2024. Our aim is to work more sustainably, to support the individuals and collaborations we work with over a longer period of time and, for international artists in particular, to build in slow travel when possible. A number of the residencies for UK-based artists will take place over two years, and longer residencies for national and international creative practitioners will create more opportunities for our residents to connect with our local and wider communities.

Although the next open call for applications to our funded programme won't now be made until the autumn of 2024, we will continue to share new opportunities over the course of the coming year, such as the new Maker & Designer Residency announced this month.

Images courtesy of the artists: above, Sayan Chanda; below, production still from Queens of Syria (Young Vic/National Tour) directed by Zoe Lafferty.

Emerging Visual Artist Residency

We are pleased to announce that the Emerging Visual Artist Residency has been awarded to the Glasgow-based visual and sound artist, photographer and DJ Matthew Arthur Williams.

Matthew's work has recently been exhibited at Dundee Contemporary Arts (2022), Jupiter Artland and Johnson Terrace Gardens both as part of a commission for Edinburgh Art Festival (2021) with a forthcoming solo show due at Stills, Edinburgh (2024). He has further developed exhibition projects and commissions with the Gallery of Modern Art Glasgow (2022), Teile2o46, Berlin (2022) Viborg Kunsthal (2021), Street Level Photoworks (2019) and Transmission Gallery (2017). 

We are delighted to have this opportunity to work with Matthew in 2023 and 2024 and we are grateful to The Bridge Awards for making this residency possible.

Image courtesy of Matthew Arthur Williams.

Associates Residencies 2023

Cove Park's Associates Programme creates new opportunities for our former residents, from new residencies at Cove Park and international residencies with partner organisations, to paid engagement opportunities, advisory roles, and events. Launched in 2021, this membership programme now has over 150 members. If you are a former resident and would like to join, please visit the Associates pages on our website.

We are pleased to announce that the first Associates in Collaboration residency has been awarded to former resident and artist-filmmaker Hope Strickland (England) and artist-filmmaker Ana Edwards (Chile). This residency provides an opportunity for Associates to develop collaborative projects and work in partnership with those new to Cove Park.

We are also excited to offer three new residencies in 2023 for our Associates: a new Maker & Designer Residency (for those aged 50+ and based in Scotland); an Artists in Schools Residency (for a Scotland-based artist to develop a participator project for pupils of John Logie Baird Primary School in Helensburgh); and an Early Career Residency for an Associate Based in the UK. Please click on each residency title for more information.

We are grateful to the Hugh Fraser Foundation for their support of the Early Career and Artists in Schools residencies, and to the Turtleton Charitable Trust for supporting our Makers & Designers Residencies in 2023.

Image: still from Mundo (2020) by Ana Edwards; below, Michael Stumpf (recipient of 2022 Associates Visual Arts Residency), 'We are more dimensional' (installation view, Viborg Kunsthal, presented by The Common Guild as part of Aarhus City of Culture, 2017 (photography, Kurt Nielse).

Taiwanese Writer Residency

We are delighted to announce that this year's Taiwanese Writer Residency has been awarded to Wang-ling Shieh.

Wang-ling Sheih is a Taiwanese writer holding a bachelor's degree in politics and law and a master's degree in Taiwanese literature. He has been a journalist, an editor, the curator of 'Cloud Gate Lecture' at Cloud Gate Theatre, and a lecturer in the Department of Art and Design at Yuanze University. Shieh has worked with directors, choreographers, musicians, and paper-cut artists, and has acted as a consultant to assist them in their creative works. Moreover, he often writes for major Taiwanese magazines and newspapers. His works of poetry and creative non-fiction are full of poetic potency and theatrical tension, aiming to depict characters that demonstrate the complexities of human nature.

While at Cove Park, Shieh intends to focus on writing a novel about his family, and his recent adventures in the Himalayas.

This residency is made possible with support from the Ministry of Culture Taiwan.

Image: Sheih Wang-ling (courtesy of the artist).

Maker & Designer Residency

In 2022 Cove Park launched a new Visual Arts Residency for an artist based in Scotland and aged 50+. Funding for the continuation of this residency in 2023 is now confirmed and we are delighted to offer the opportunity this year to a maker or designer (based in Scotland and aged 50 or over).

This two week residency is fully funded, including a fee, a materials and a travel allowance. Provisional dates for the residency would be from 4 - 16 September, but alternative dates are negotiable. 

Further information on the residency and how to submit a brief letter of application to Cove Park is available here.

We are grateful to the Turtleton Charitable Trust for their ongoing support of this programme.

Image: Jacobs Building Studio, Cove Park.

Spring Micro-Residencies

Cove Park's Spring Micro-Residencies are a new addition to our Independently Funded Programme. Open to artists, creative practitioners working in all art forms, writers, academics, and researchers, the Micro Residencies can take place from 3 to 7 nights during April and May each year, providing what can be the ideal amount of time to focus exclusively on current work, meet a deadline, or simply to refocus and take stock between projects.

Spring Micro-Residencies are subsidised and offered at a reduced rate to our general Independently Funded Residencies. Prices start at £65 per night for a Cube, to £200 per night for a Pod (suitable for two-four people). For more information on availability and costs, please contacts Nicola Jamieson directly.

Image: Bonnie MacRae, Youth Arts Bursary resident, Cove Park, 2022. 

Carers Workshop with Caitlin Hegney

A group from Helensburgh and Lomond Carers will join Argyll-based jewellery designer and former resident Caitlin Hegney this month for an afternoon of mindful making. 

The group will work with traditional jewellery tools and experiment with basic metal working techniques. During the course of the workshop, the participants will make  a piece to take away with them; this could be a bracelet, necklace or talisman. Caitlin's practice is inspired by the ancient past and undertook a residency at Cove Park in 2019.

Image: Courtesy of the artist.