Alex Marrs (she/her) is an arts administrator based in Glasgow. At Cove Park, she produces the Awarded Residencies and leads on communications. Previously, she has served as the Executive Producer of Brooklyn-based theatre company Colt Coeur; Chief of Staff and Manager of Individual Giving & Special Events at Primary Stages, a nonprofit Off-Broadway theatre company. She has worked as the Assistant Director of Arts Advancement at Tilles Center for the Performing Arts at Long Island University and at her alma mater, Christopher Newport University in Virginia, in advancement for its academic arts programmes, Ferguson Center for the Arts, and a fine art museum. She is a graduate of the Commercial Theatre Institute fourteen week producing intensive and an alumna of TedxBroadway’s Young Professionals group. In 2022, she graduated with distinction from the University of Glasgow with a MSc in Creative Industries & Cultural Policy. Alex now serves on the Board of Directors of Playwrights’ Studio Scotland and is co-chair of Colt Coeur.

Alexia was appointed Director in April 2023. She has worked for Cove Park since 2004 in a number of senior roles, overseeing its international programme of residencies, commissions, special projects, partnerships, and collaborations. Prior to Cove Park, she was Curator at Tramway, Glasgow, where she commissioned solo exhibitions by artists such as Martin Boyce, Chris Evans, Ilana Halperin, Henry VIIIs Wives, Scott Myles, Pipilotti Rist, Stephen Sutcliffe, Salla Tykkä, and Tatham & O’Sullivan. A graduate of Glasgow University’s History of Art department, she also worked at The Glasgow School of Art and CCA Glasgow whilst completing a PhD on early twentieth century fashion design. As Curator for the Scottish Print Network between 2012 and 2016, she developed ‘Below another sky’, an international programme of residencies, exhibitions and events for Scotland’s five print studios. In addition, during 2016 and 2017, she was Project Coordinator for Little Sparta, the garden of Ian Hamilton Finlay, and its Sharing Little Sparta programme.

Emma Henderson joined Cove Park in 2017. She is a print and pattern designer and illustrator based in Helensburgh. Since graduating from Glasgow School of Art she has combined her passion for design, screen printing and patterns into a bold and eye-catching fashion and home wears brand. Selling nationally and internationally, clients have included Anthropologie, Whole Foods Market, Paperchase and Fenwiks. Emma’s first textile design collection was selected for the Scottish Show during the six cities design festival and subsequent commissions have included We are What We Do, Graham & Brown and Urban Outfitters. Prior to studying at Glasgow School of Art Emma worked at BAFTA Scotland and The Lighthouse while working on features film and TV productions such as ‘The Magdelaine Sisters’ and Book Group.

Karen joined Cove Park in October 2021 initially as relief housekeeper, and now manages the housekeeping team and provides support to residents. Karen has a background in Nursing and Administration, having obtained a BSc in Nursing Studies and a BA in Business. She has worked within the NHS, Voluntary and Social Service sectors prior to joining Cove Park. Karen is also an amateur musician and has given her services voluntarily to the Royal Naval Volunteer Band Association for the past 30 years.

Kerrie joined Cove Park in 2018 to provide operational support during busy periods and now also assists the team with finance and administration. Prior to Cove Park she worked as a senior manager within the hospitality industry, working between Glasgow, London and the West Coast of Scotland in four and five-star hotels. Kerrie is currently studying towards a BA in French & Spanish.

Nicola Jamieson produces Cove Park’s Open Residencies. With over 30 years in the media, culture and arts industry, Nicola has had the role of General Manager for a number of art establishments, responsible for developing and managing partnerships, events and activities, has knowledge and experience of working with artists, art organisations and creative industries both in the UK and Internationally. Currently the Co Founder and CEO of the Mackintosh Club Helensburgh, she continues to use her skills to run a successful Centre for Arts, Architecture and Design. Responsible for the curation of the Gallery, sourcing and booking artists for performance and workshops within budget, developing and maintaining partnerships including local schools, the Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow Life, Glasgow Mackintosh and the BBC. She serves as Director of Puregreenspace Architects, a practice that specialises in sustainable and green building technology. Glasgow Life Advisory Panel Member, Glasgow Mackintosh Advisory Panel Member

Rona Grierson has a background in Business Development, Sales, Recruitment and Fundraising and has worked across the private, public and charitable sectors during her career. She moved from Edinburgh where she lived for 30 years, to the Rosneath Peninsula in 2010.

Her roles have always involved developing relationships with people and she enjoys learning about and working with people to understand their needs. Her first role in the Charity sector was with Breast Cancer Now as a Regional Fundraiser and Relationship Manager where she was involved in events and relationship development. Rona volunteers in her local community as an Operations Manager for Cove & Kilcreggan Book Festival (2014 – present), Sales Editor, Pen Mag (2012 – present) and was a Board member at Cove Burgh Hall from 2013 to 2022

Thom Rees is a Glasgow-based artist exhibiting nationally and internationally, working across print, sculpture and installation. Graduating from the University of Brighton and Glasgow School of Art he has worked as a freelance art technician for public and commercial institutions and leading contemporary art organisations such as MK Gallery, Modern Art Oxford, Talbot Rice Gallery, V&A Dundee and Constantine. His career as a technician and maker has led to his work as an onscreen wood working technician for the Channel 4 TV show Handmade: Britain’s Best Wood Worker, in addition to working with prominent artists to realise large scale public commissions.

Ashanti Harris is a multi-disciplinary artist, researcher and lecturer based in Glasgow. Working primarily between performance, sculpture and writing, Ashanti’s work disrupts historical narratives and reimagines them from a Caribbean diasporic perspective. Ashanti is the 2024 recipient of the John Florent Stone Fellowship at Edinburgh College of Art; co-founder of Project X – a community interest company platforming dance of the African and Caribbean diaspora in Scotland; and Research Advisor for Body Remedy – a [forming] ecology centring the experiences of black people and people of colour who identify as women and/or non-binary.

Brian Lochrie is a qualified Chartered Surveyor with over 30 years of experience working in senior roles with major companies across the UK and in Dubai.  Brian’s experience covers property management, property development and project management across both the public and private sector acting as both a client and a consultant. Brian has experience of the preparation and implementation of policies and procedures and governance.

With 30+ years experience working on sophisticated, global cultural platforms, Eric Latzky has built vanguard communications strategies in the world of arts and ideas, media, cultural diplomacy, and corporate cultural partnerships.  Through an expansive, non-traditional sensibility, and a strong focus on digital advancement and practice evolution, he has a track record of creating and disseminating transformational messaging, and renewing and leveraging brand value and recognition. A seasoned spokesman, conversant in European, Pan-Asian, and Latin American social and business cultures, Eric Latzky is skilled in the planning and execution of complex projects on behalf of high-level clients.

Heather Parry is a Glasgow-based author and editor, with a background in advocating for authors’ rights. She is the editorial director of Extra Teeth magazine and co-created the Illustrated Freelancer’s Guide with artist Maria Stoian. She has published both fiction and nonfiction, and her next novel, Carrion Crow, will be released in February 2025 with Doubleday.

Karen McMillan is a chartered certified accountant and independent examiner. She has worked with a wide range of charity and third sector clients over the last twenty years, in an advisory capacity, as an auditor, and at Board level.

Lauren is an arts writer, lecturer and cultural researcher. Currently she is one of four curators/researchers forming Hidden Objects Oxford. She is a Trustee of David Dale Gallery and was a former Chair of Centre for Contemporary Arts Glasgow. Lauren has written regularly for Artforum International and various critical journals and publications in Sweden, US, Italy, the UK, and a diplomatic community publication The Swedish Bulletin, Stockholm. She is a member of AICA (International Art Critics Association), a Fellow of the RSA, a member of the Oxford Philosophical Society, and has been a member of The Frontline Club, London. She has been a visiting lecturer in MLitt Art Writing at Glasgow School of Art, and an external PhD supervisor at Edinburgh College of Art. While serving as President of the philanthropic International Women’s Club of Stockholm, she co-founded ACE (Arts, Culture, Etc.) contemporary arts. Lauren was Executive Director of The Kitchen experimental arts centre for video, music, dance, performance, literature, film and art in New York City, and a founding curatorial consultant of ZKM media arts centre in Karlsruhe, Germany. Her non-profit arts organisation Vanguard Visions operated in New York City, Stockholm and Glasgow.

Marianne Stark has enjoyed a 27 year career in hospitality managing prestigious 4 and 5 star hotels in London, Edinburgh and Glasgow before recently making her move to Contract Food Services. She started at Glasgow’s One Devonshire Gardens after university before moving to London’s 5 star Firmdale hotel group where, after 18 months, she became their youngest General Manager at 28. She opened their Haymarket Hotel before coming home to Scotland in 2008, straight to another opening of Hotel du Vin’s then newest hotel in Edinburgh. Marianne then came full circle, returning to where her hospitality career began at One Devonshire Gardens in 2013 but this time as General Manager. In 2022, Marianne left hotels to join Chartwells Independent, part of the Compass Group, as Regional Manager for Scotland. Marianne has a reputation for building strong teams in her businesses – both in new openings and established operations and believes having the right people is the key to success. An eye for detail, excellent service and food quality are her passions.

Nadia Sirc is a freelance lawyer based in Glasgow, having previously been a partner in a top Scottish law firm. She is experienced in providing legal advice in the public and private sectors. She is also experienced in policy writing. She was previously a trustee of both the Centre for Contemporary Arts in Glasgow and Outset Scotland.

Parvinder Marwaha works in cultural and climate advocacy and creative programming, exploring core systems of gender, faith and race. At the British Council, she specialises in developing arts programmes across the UK, Europe and South Asia to promote cultural exchange. Her projects include ‘Gender Ecologies’, a cross-artform programme exploring the intersection of women and climate in Bangladesh and Pakistan; ‘Circular Cultures’ promoting sustainable practices across Europe; and ‘Our Shared Cultural Heritage’ – a youth-led programme exploring shared UK-South Asia histories in museums in Manchester and Glasgow. Her personal practice explores arts, culture and food – in her project ‘chai breaker’ she uses chai (tea) as a catalyst to collaborate with artists and designers to explore topics from colonialism and casteism to gender equality.

Sophie Crichton Stuart is Chair of the Mount Stuart Trust, the charitable trust which administers Mount Stuart house, gardens, and rural affairs on the Isle of Bute.  She is additionally the founding Director of the Contemporary Visual Arts Programme at Mount Stuart which aims to promote and facilitate interest in the contemporary visual arts and bring exhibitions of an international standard to Bute and Argyll. Sophie was Director of the Edinburgh Tapestry Company from 1993-2001 and has served on the board for several contemporary arts organisations including The Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, Location One and Public Art Fund, New York. Sophie is currently pursuing a master’s degree in modern literature and culture at Birkbeck University.

In 2000, after five years of research, Eileen Jacobs co-founded Cove Park with her husband Peter Jacobs. She trained and worked as an Occupational Therapist in the NHS, followed by forty years working in the Voluntary Sector, while bringing up three children and studying art – particularly sculpture and ceramics – part-time. Eileen was involved in Cove Park’s selection panels for its visual arts and craft residencies from 2000-2021, and remains an active Founding Trustee.

Among many positions in industry, Peter Jacobs served as the Chief Executive Officer of BUPA from 1991 to 1999, Chief Executive Officer of British Sugar from 1983 to 1999, and before that 16 years with Mars Corporation, both in pet foods and confectionary. He served as a Non Executive Director of RAF Strike Command, Non-Executive Director of Allied Domecq PLC from 1998 to 2004, Chairman of LA Fitness from 1999 to 1995, Chairman of WT Foods from 2002 to 2005, and Chairman of Hillsdown Holdings from 1997 to 1999. He remains an active Founding Trustee of Cove Park.

Sir Derek Jacobi is an actor known for his work at the National Theatre and for his numerous film and television roles. Derek attended Cove Park’s 10th anniversary celebrations in 2010.

Elizabeth Price is a former resident of Cove Park, taking part in our programme in 2003. She is an internationally acclaimed artist and was the winner of the Turner Prize in 2012.

Margaret Atwood is a former Cove Park resident. She was awarded the 2006 Muriel Spark Fellowship and took part in our programme in September that year, spending a total of one month in Scotland. Atwood’s work has been published in more than 45 countries, and she is the author of more than 50 books of fiction, poetry, critical essays and graphic novels.

In recognition of Julian Forrester’s significant contribution to Cove Park since 2000. Julian was an advisor to Eileen and Peter Jacobs during the first years of Cove Park’s residency programme, managed the programme between 2004 and 2008, and was the Director of the organisation from 2009 to 2020.