deAuteurs Performing Arts Residencies 2026
Programme Announcement

Many of our Awarded Residencies are devised and developed in partnership with leading national and international cultural organisations, companies, public funders, and foundations. These residencies support both national and international artists and researchers, and also make possible international residency exchanges, commissions, and public events.

This year, we are very pleased to support more artists based in EU nations through a new partnership with deAuteurs, a Belgian authors' rights management organisation that represents authors of performing arts, audio-visual, literary, and visual works. This programme provides two-week residencies to three artists developing new work in performance. 

Following an open call selection process, we will welcome theatre maker, actress, and screenwriter Céline Timmerman, theatre maker and performer Tibau Beirnaert, and director, performer and dramaturg Laurens Aneca in October. 

We are grateful to Hannah Brugge for her support in making this residency possible. 

Images: Céline Timmerman, Koen Broos (Buidelwolf/POUCH) 

Visual Arts Scotland Residencies 2026
Programme Announcement

Following a call for applications open to members of Visual Arts Scotland, we are delighted to announce the 2026 residencies have been awarded to Rahel Levine and Evie Rose Thornton.

This new partnership with Visual Arts Scotland makes possible two-week fully-funded residencies designed to support research and the development of new work.

We look forward to welcoming Rahel and Evie next month. 

Image: Rahel Levine, Untitled, (Reflection piece, Selkirk, 2019- 2024), 2024, As part of General Magic at The Fulcrum Press Curated by Andy Bennett (photography, Joshua Schaede)

NAARCA News
The East Light Prototype:
Producer Development Programme

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.

In early 2026, NAARCA announced its role in the ongoing development of Future Island-Island, an AHRC-funded project bringing together community members, academics, and practitioners to co-create design-led research for a greener, more sustainable Northern Ireland economy.

NAARCA will contribute to The East Light – A Creativity-led Strategy for a Sustainable Knowledge Economy on Rathlin Island. This strand supports the Rathlin Development Community Association in regenerating the historic East Light lighthouse into an academic, research, and creative destination, as well as a community and technological hub for the island.

Through this funded Producer Development Programme, NAARCA and FI-I are seeking a Producer to undertake a series of sustainability-focused residencies in 2027 centred on skills development, knowledge exchange, and mentorship. Over the course of one year, the selected Producer will engage with NAARCA partners, learn how each institution operates, and receive support to establish a new sustainability-centred pilot residency programme on Rathlin Island.

To be eligible, the Producer must be based in Northern Ireland and priority consideration will be given to those living on Rathlin Island. Learn more here and apply by 19 October. 

Image: East Lighthouse, Rathlin Island (courtesy of Dr Clare Mulholland)

Ecologies in the Making: Sculpting Futures 2027
Final Call for Applications

The call for applications from recent graduates of Uniarts Helsinki’s Academy of the Fine Arts to the 2027 Ecologies in the Making: Sculpting Futures programme closes soon on 30 September. 

This four-month residency, offered jointly by Cove Park and Scottish Sculpture Workshop, is part of the International Incubators in Fine Arts project, established by Uniarts Helsinki’s Academy of Fine Arts and the Saastamoinen Foundation. The project aims to build a dialogue between teaching in fine arts and the international field of art.

The residency programme Ecologies in the Making: Sculpting Futures focuses on making practices in a time of climate breakdown. The programme invites applications from those who are already exploring ecologies of making and from those who wish to (re)focus or build relationships with the more-than-human in our warming world. The aim is to support artists to research and develop ecological methods and contexts for their artistic practice.

The residency will take place June – July at Cove Park and August – September in SSW in 2027. Please note that the residency periods are fixed. Learn more and apply via Uniarts.

Image: Iisa Lepistö, Ecologies in the Making Residency, Scottish Sculpture Workshop, 2021 (photography, Felicity Crawshaw) 

Subsidised Winter Residencies
Call for Applications

Our popular annual programme of Subsidised Winter Residencies returns and will run between December 2026 and March 2026. We welcome artists, cultural practitioners, writers, and researchers from every creative and academic discipline.

All residencies during this period are offered at a reduced cost, starting at £450 per week. This year, applications for this programme can be submitted at any time between 25 September 2026 and 26 February 2027.

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.

Visit our website for more information and to apply. 

Image: The Jacobs Building in winter.  

Join Our Team:
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 day-to-day maintenance and safety of Cove Park’s site and buildings, including 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 Tuesday 6 October 2026 (5pm).

Image: View of Loch Long (photography, Tracy Bloxham)

In Conversation: Anne-Marie Te Whiu
Wigtown Books Festival
1 October 

The recipient of the 2026 Cove Park / Varuna International Fellowship, Anne-Marie Te Whiu, will be in conversation with Julia Farrington at the Wigtown Books Festival on 1 October at 12pm. 

In this special event, the Australian-born Maori poet, writer and editor will discuss and read from her debut collection, Mettle. 

Descended from the Te Rarawa tribe on her father's side and from English/Irish (pakeha) roots on her mother's, Anne-Marie Te Whiu's work explores identity, language, colonialism and genealogy. She may also share anecdotes about her ancestors, including great-aunt Dame Whina Cooper who led a 29-day Maori land rights march from Te Hapua Marae to Wellington in 1975, when she was 79 years old.

Book your ticket for this event via Wigtown Book Festival here.  Following the festival, Anne-Marie will undertake a four-week residency at Cove Park. 

Launched in 2019 with support from The Bridge Awards, this programme is a partnership between Cove Park and Varuna, the National Writers’ House of Australia. Offering residencies in Scotland and Australia for alumni writers connected to both organisations, the programme has been adapted to take place over two years, with recipients travelling in alternating years. In 2024 we launched a new partnership with Wigtown Book Festival, connecting the participating writers to this acclaimed Scottish book festival.

Image: Anne-Marie Te Whiu (photography, Joy Lai for Openbook, State Library NSW) 

Collective Home:
Community Play
21 October 2026

Using a mixture of theatre and film footage, we want to tell the stories which make up Garelochhead, past and present, through a large-scale community theatre and film project. If you live in Garelochhead and are interested in acting, directing, playing music, filmmaking, writing, singing, stage management, building sets, costume, make up, or photography, this is the project for you. Or if you just want to hang about, have a laugh and contribute some tales from the sidelines, that’s great too.

This Collective Home project, led by Bafta winning director and Cove Park embedded artist Kenny Glennan, aims to involve everyone in the Garelochhead village – all ages, any ability, everyone is welcome.

The first information meeting will take place at Centre 81 in Garelochhead. Sign up here. 

Image courtesy of Kenny Glenaan. 

Good Enough:
Open Studio
24 October 2026

Following a development residency in May, NOCTURN brings Good Enough back to Cove Park for a day of sharing work-in-progress.

Founded by John Darvell, NOCTURN creates participatory dance storyworlds with later-life dancers and communities, blending co-creation, everyday tech and cinematic storytelling. Good Enough is a portable storybox experience exploring masking, identity and the hidden self, built from the real stories of gay, bi and trans men over 50, and others who were raised and read as male.

For more details and to book your place, please visit our TicketTailor page.

Good Enough is supported by Immersive Arts and Creative Scotland's National Lottery Open Fund for Organisations, in collaboration with Switchboard LGBT+, OurStory Scotland, Sanctuary Queer Arts, Cove Park, Artlink Central, The Work Room, CityMoves Dance Agency SCIO, Pitlochry Festival Theatre, Birnam Arts and Dancin Oxford.

Image courtesy of John Darvell. 

Saturday Studios – Folk Tales:
Collaging Our Stories
31 October 2026

Join Collective Home Embedded Artist Carina NicHaouchine in a workshop where participants will have the chance to create their own folk tales. Folk stories often come from reimagining everyday domestic life and reconstructing memories. Together we will shape these into something fantastical.

Drawing from Scottish and Kabyle (an ethnic group native to the mountainous Kabylia region of Algeria) aural storytelling traditions, the workshop will explore little-known folk tales, how they have lingered and how we can share and preserve our own mythology – creating magical documentations through collage.

Two workshops will take place on 31 October for children and their accompanying adults. For further information and to reserve your free place, please visit our Ticket Tailor page.

Image courtesy of Emma Henderson. 

Saturday Studios: Building Home
5 December

Join Cove Park's Embedded Artist Kenny Glenaan for an immersive workshop connected to the concept of home. Kenny is a theatre maker and filmmaker based in Renfrewshire and developing work in Argyll.

During the workshop participants can create a character, form a family, build a home, go on a journey, meet strangers, build a community. Taking the idea of what ‘home’ means this is a two-hour interactive physical theatre workshop for everybody – of all abilities – in which everyone will play everything!

Two workshops for children and their accompanying adults will take place on 5 December. For further information and to reserve your free place, please visit our Ticket Tailor page.

Image courtesy of Emma Henderson. 

Cove Park Friends & Patrons 

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 or Patron 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: Ayman Hlal performance at Cove Park (photography, Alan Dimmick)