Supported Summer Residency
Supported Summer Residency: Program Description
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the cancellation of almost all of our programming for the year 2020. As a result, the sense of purpose and collective effort these programs provide at our busiest time of year have been lost. As for many, this has been a challenging time and an opportunity to pause and reassess all that we do at Cow House. Now that restrictions are being gradually lifted, and we collectively return to our daily lives, we are adapting to a new set of circumstances.
After much consideration, we will reopen with a four-week residency program for artists based in Ireland. This residency will be possible through a collective effort that involves the generosity of our extended community of family, friends, artists, and alumni. We have taken a considerable amount of time to select and confirm participation with a group of artists we admire. Seventeen week-long residencies have been awarded to each participating artist in exchange for one original artwork on paper. We are now seeking seventeen separate donations of €400 each, covering our residency fee. In exchange, benefactors will receive one of the seventeen donated artworks based on a lottery system.
Everyone involved benefits from this effort. For us, at Cow House, it is a safe way to reopen after a prolonged closure, for the participating artists, to spend one week at Cow House, and for the generous benefactors, an opportunity to receive a new work of art. This residency is scheduled to begin on Monday, July 20th, and run for four consecutive weeks until August 16th.
Support the Program
If you would like to participate with a contribution of €400, please contact us directly. We will be taking these donations as part of this exchange on a first-come, first-served basis.
Participating Artists
Miriam O’Connor, Paul Gaffney, Mary Ruth Walsh, Michelle, Brown, Hina Khan, Laura Fitzgerald, Rhona Byrne, Colin Martin, Ramon Kassam, Yvette Monaghan, Sanja Todorovic, Ciara Roche, Aileen Murphy, Emma Roche, Salvatore of Lucan, Bassam Al-Sabah and Robert Ellis.
About the Image
The image above was taken on September 12th, 2005, and depicts the Cow House before its extensive renovation. Co-Director Frank Abruzzese had just recently moved to Ireland and made this photograph during a casual stroll around the farm. In the picture, Co-Director Rosie O’Gorman and her father Michael discuss her ambitious plans for the studio. It seems fitting to use this photograph in this context. We could not have imagined all that would transpire in the wake of our humble efforts back then. The excitement, hope, anxious anticipation and uncertainty seem to mirror some of our feelings at this moment. We are appreciative of the artists who have agreed to take part in this residency, our first program following the unprecedented COVID-19 global pandemic. Additionally, we are comforted by the words of concern and encouragement we have received re-affirming our mission to advance visual arts practice here in Ireland and abroad.
