March 2024As spring arrives we launch a number of exciting new residencies and can share good news of an award made recently to Cove Park from Cycling UK. March began with Musical Theatre Writing Residency, a creative collaboration led by Cove Park and Dundee Rep Theatre alongside 12 Scottish and international partner organisations, helping to develop world-class work for audiences throughout the UK and beyond. The residency involved 13 artists supported by a creative team including dramaturgs, directors, producers, and music supervisors. The participating artist collaborators were 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. This month also sees the launch of Creative Residencies for Carers, a new group residency for unpaid adult carers based in Scotland. The five artists taking part are performer and theatre maker Lucy Beth, writer Ann Greer, printed textile artist and designer Joanna Kinnersly-Taylor, artist and writer Heather Marshall, and visual and textile artist and storyteller Fiona Percy. We are also excited to welcome writer Caro Carver, the recipient of the first Loch Long Crime Writing Residency, and visual artist Morwenna Kearsley, awarded the 2024 Bowmaker Residency. Joining us for the final month of this year's Winter Subsidised Residencies are academic and Director of Dorcas Inclusive Education Consultancy Danielle Chavrimootoo, visual artist and former
resident Titus Davis, Associate Professor of Architecture at University of Northumbria and former resident Lesley McIntyre, writer Kari Shemwell, visual artist, musician, and writer Shawn Snow, design consultant and writer Sarah Trounce, and writer Emily Utter. Read on for news of the NAARCA writing commission awarded to Gaelic writer Mairi Macleod, the announcement of the 2024 Cryptic Residencies at Cove Park, our final call for applications to the inaugural Argyll Heritage Craft Residency, news of
an award from Cycling UK, Space Hire 2024, and finally animations on our YouTube Channel created by Cove Park's Saturday Studio participants this spring with artist and former resident Adam Lewis-Jacob. Images: above, Cove Park's Oak Pod (photography, Tracey Bloxham Inside Story Photography).
NAARCA New Writing Commission:
Mairi Macleod We are delighted to share Cur Na Mara / Seasickness, a new text by Gaelic writer Mairi Macleod. This work was commissioned by NAARCA: the Nordic Alliance of Artists' Residencies on Climate Action. Following the inaugural 2023 Young Gaelic Writer Residency, a collaboration between Cove Park and Comhairle nan Leabhraichean / The Gaelic Books Council, Mairi was invited to create a short piece of fiction in both Gaelic and English, and was also awarded an 8-week residency at Saari Residence in Finland.
Mairi’s writing engages with humanity’s relationships with space, place, and nature. As a young woman writing in a minority language, she wants to contribute not just to the survival of Gaelic, but to its blossoming and evolution. In Cur na Mara / Seasickness, Mairi draws on a traditional Scottish folk tale – the Selkie wife – and updates it for an age of climate crisis. The text is available in both Gaelic and English here. Mairi also recorded the short story for a bonus episode of our Testing Grounds podcast. More NAARCA writing commissions will be published this spring. Image: Mairi Macleod at Saari Residence in Hietamäki, Finland (photography, Jussi Virkkumaa).
Cryptic Residencies 2024Cryptic, Scotland's internationally renowned home of audiovisual art and experimentation, makes a welcome return to Cove Park this month for its annual programme of residencies. Bringing artists from across the UK, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain, and Ukraine, the participating artists this year are: Andrey Chuginov, Alba Garcia Corral, Harry Gorski-Brown, Sonia Killman, Laura Manelli, No Plexus, Georgina Penstkart, Kseniia Shcherbakova, SHHE (Su Shaw), Alex Smoke, and Zwel Mun Wint. Cryptic's Artist Residency Programme offers professional development time and support for musicians and digital artists. This programme is curated by Cryptic and was established in 2012, with over 78 artists taking part to date. Read more here. Image: Alex Smoke, Cryptic Resident.
The Argyll Heritage Craft Residency 2024
Final 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).
An Award from Cycling UKEarlier this month, following an application for funding to Cycling UK, Cove Park was awarded almost £10,ooo for the purchase of three new electric bikes and accessories. The bikes will be made available for use by our residents and team in March, supporting our work towards reducing carbon emissions across all aspects of our programme, site, and facilities. We are very grateful to
Cycling UK for this generous award and look forward to seeing the bikes out on the Rosneath Peninsula. Image: Cove Park studios (photography, Tracey Bloxham, Inside Story Photography).
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).
Saturday Studio AnimationsCove Park's Saturday Studio workshop in February took place at Hermitage Park Pavilion, Helensburgh. Led by visual artist and former resident Adam Lewis Jacob, these free workshops led to wonderful new animations by children
aged 5+. This work is now featured on Cove Park's YouTube Channel, showing the skills and imaginations of all involved. For more information on our Saturday Studios programme please contact Emma Henderson. Our forthcoming series of workshops will be announced in the April Newsletter. Saturday Studio Workshops are made possible with support from Argyll & Bute Council. Images, above, still from animation made at February's Saturday Studios; below, the link to all the animations on Cove Park's YouTube Channel.
|