Scotland + Venice is delighted to announce the names of the 17 Scotland-based individuals that will take part in the 2019 Professional Development Programme. The programme offers a significant opportunity to support Scotland’s presentation of new video work by Charlotte Prodger at this year’s Venice Biennale of Art, May-November 2019.

Cove Park– an international artists residency centre based in Scotland – is spearheading the Scotland + Venice Professional Development Programme. This year, in addition to partnering with six Scottish Art Schools and Colleges, the Programme will benefit from new collaborations with the Scottish Contemporary Art Network (SCAN) and Templar Arts and Leisure Centre (talc), Argyll and Bute. The aim is to open up this opportunity beyond those currently in further or higher education to help address the significant barriers that people can face in pursuing or progressing a professional career in the visual arts.

The Professional Development Programme receives support from the participating institutions, with additional funding from Art Fund, from the National Lottery through Creative Scotland and from British Council Scotland.

2019 Professional Development Programme group meeting at Cove Park

Leading the group’s inaugural training residency at Cove Park in Argyll and Bute, Alexia Holt, Cove Park’s Associate Director & Visual Arts Programme Producersaid: “Residency programmes for artists and professional development training for arts professionals are key to supporting the arts in Scotland and we’re incredibly pleased that the Professional Development Programme’s model has been expanded to include those based within Cove Park’s own region and those identified through our new partnership with SCAN.”

As key members of the Scotland + Venice team at the exhibition space, the 17 team members will have a unique and valuable opportunity to stay in Venice, learn new skills, develop professional and international networks and gain professional experience in the unique setting of the Venice Biennale, one of the world’s biggest and most prestigious contemporary visual arts festivals.

Colleges, organisations and individuals taking part are:

City of Glasgow College: Emma Blackhall

Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art: Kaya Fraser and Katheryne Morrison

Edinburgh College of Art: Aisling Ward, Eleanor Beale, Frances Driscoll and Maria Oliver Smith

Glasgow School of Art: Harvey Dimond, Aki Hassan and Soorin Shin

Gray’s School of Art: Courtney Barr and Lauren Fergusson

Templar Arts and Leisure Centre(talc.): Grace Carroll and Isaac Stanesby

Scottish Contemporary Arts Network (SCAN): Thomas Abercromby and Foxy

University of Highlands and Islands: Jenny Sprenger

An integral part of the Scotland + Venice presentation, the Professional Development Programme began 15 years ago and, to date, over 100 students from eight Scottish art institutes of further and higher Education have taken part, many of whom have gone on to secure work throughout the visual arts sector.

Nicole Heidtke, Programme Leader, talc. said: “We are delighted to hear that Grace and Isaac will be given this professional development opportunity during the Venice Biennale for Scotland + Venice. They worked hard last year as talc.’s trainees, and we are certain that they will do a fantastic job of introducing Charlotte Prodger’s work to visitors, and of representing Scotland. For talc. it is an honour to work with Cove Park and Scotland + Venice to support these two young people.”

Clare Harris, Director, SCAN, said: “The Scottish Contemporary Art Network (SCAN) is delighted to support the Scotland + Venice Professional Development Programme as it opens out beyond higher and further education partnerships.  It is a fantastic opportunity for professional training, work experience and individual creative development. SCAN know that all kinds of barriers exist that prevent talented people from joining the visual arts profession or from progressing in their chosen field, these can include socio-economic barriers, access to higher education, and entrenched inequalities. We are confident that our candidates will be brilliant ambassadors for Scotland and for Charlotte Prodger’s work and that their skills, energy and life experience will enrich the project. Having met with so many inspirational candidates from across Scotland and from a wide range of backgrounds we hope that many more such open opportunities can be shared in the cultural sector.”

Amanda Catto, Head of Visual Art at Creative Scotland and Chair of the Scotland + Venice partnership, said: “We’re extremely proud of the Professional Development Programme that Scotland +

Venice has established with its many partners over the last 15 years.  The programme offers an unprecedented opportunity for the participants to gain exposure to some of the very best contemporary art from across the world and to develop new skills and professional connections.  We understand the very real and significant benefits that flow from the programme and we are delighted to have forged new partnerships for 2019 which will further extend the opportunity to people who may be facing barriers to pursuing a career in the arts.”

Norah Campbell, Head of Arts, British Council Scotland said: “We are proud to support this initiative to widen the reach of these valuable international opportunities, as they offer the potential to make significant contributions to the careers of those who will be taking part”

Stephen Deuchar, Director, Art Fund, said: ‘These professional development placements promise both to open up the important work of artist Charlotte Prodger to international audiences and give vital career opportunities in the visual arts to people from across Scotland who might otherwise never have got the chance. It’s a fantastic initiative and we’re proud to support it.’

2007 participant Lottie Thorne commented: “This is a great opportunity for anyone taking part.  Not only are you living and working in one of the most historically rich and beautiful cities in the world,you have access to the best of the best in terms of contemporary art. The impact on my career is directly linked to this opportunity; people I met, both artists and partners, informed my understanding of and passion for working in the visual arts sector in Scotland. The reputation of the project, and connections I made being associated with it, equipped me with knowledge and confidence to secure work at the Scottish Arts Council, Creative Scotland and British Council Scotland, engaging with senior partners, practicing artists and project producers.”

Further details about the Scotland + Venice Professional Development Programme can be found at scotlandandvenice.com/learning-programme.

La Biennale di Venezia runs from 11 May to 24 November 2019. Charlotte Prodger’s exhibition will take place at Arsenale Docks, S. Pietro di Castello, 40, 30122

Scotland + Venice opening times: Tuesday – Sunday, 10am – 6pm, free entry. Vaporetto stops: Giardini, Arsenale or S. Pietro di Castello

Media Contact: Caterina Berardi, Pickles PR | E: [email protected]| T: +44 (0) 790748707.

Notes to Editors:

1. Scotland + Venice is a partnership between Creative Scotland, the National Galleries of Scotland and British Council Scotland. Founded in 2003, Scotland + Venice provides artists based in Scotland with a valuable platform to showcase their work on the international stage at one of the world’s most prestigious visual arts festivals, the Venice Biennale. Charlotte Prodger’s exhibition at the 58th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia is curated and delivered by Linsey Young with Cove Park, commissioned by Scotland + Venice and is supported by the artist’s production consultant, Mason Leaver-Yap, and Dutch arts organisation, If I Can’t Dance, I Don’t Want to Be Part of Your Revolution (IICD). For further information and to sign up for updates, please visit: www.scotlandandvenice.com / @scotlandvenice / #scotlandvenice / www.facebook.com/scotlandandvenice

2. Charlotte Prodger was born in Bournemouth, UK in 1974. She studied at Goldsmiths, London and The Glasgow School of Art and lives and works in Glasgow. Winner of the 2018 Turner Prize, Prodger has also received the 2014 Margaret Tait Award and 2017 Paul Hamlyn Award. Selected solo exhibitions include: Turner Prize, Tate Britain, London (2018); BRIDGIT/Stoneymollan Trail, Bergen Kunsthall; Subtotal, SculptureCenter, New York (2017); BRIDGIT, Hollybush Gardens, London; Charlotte Prodger, Kunstverein Düsseldorf (2016); 8004–8019, Spike Island, Bristol; Stoneymollan Trail, Temple Bar, Dublin (2015); Nephatiti, Glasgow International Director’s Programme; Markets (with The Block), Chelsea Space, London (2014); Percussion Biface 1-13, Studio Voltaire, London; Colon Hyphen Asterix, Intermedia CCA, Glasgow (2012); Handclap/Punchhole, Kendall Koppe, Glasgow (2011). Selected group exhibitions include: Always Different, Always the Same: An Essay on Art and Systems, Bunder Kunstmuseum, Chur; ORGASMIC STREAM- ING ORGANIC GARDENING ELECTROCULTURE, Chelsea Space, London (2018); British Art Show 8 (2016); Weight of Data, Tate Britain, London; An Interior that Remains an Exterior, Künstlerhaus Graz (2015); Frozen Lakes, Artists Space, New York (2014).

3. Linsey Young is a curator based in London and Glasgow. Having previously held curatorial positions at Inverleith House, Edinburgh, and The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, Young is currently Curator Contemporary British Art at Tate, where she is lead curator of the Turner Prize, responsible for overseeing the project each time it is held in London. In addition, while at Tate she has co-curated Rachel Whiteread’s mid-career retrospective and curated Pablo Bronstein and Anthea Hamilton’s Duveen commissions. In 2013, Young founded the independent, not-for-profit project YOUNG TEAM through which she has curated exhibitions and developed publications with artists such as: Sue Tompkins, Neal Jones, Jonathan Meese and Steven Campbell. Working with the artist Charlotte Prodger, Young is Commissioner and Curator of Scotland + Venice 2019.

4. Located on the west coast of Scotland in Argyll and Bute, Cove Park runs an annual programme of creative development residencies for national and international artists, working in all art forms and at all stages in their careers. Cove Park’s Visual Arts programme offers both residencies and commissions, produced and curated by Alexia Holt, enabling artists to develop new work in the context of an outstanding 50-acre rural site overlooking Loch Long. The organisation’s award-winning Artists Centre, a purpose-built space for artists and visitors, opened in 2016 and made possible the development of Cove Park’s innovative creative learning programme led by current and former residents. Cove Park was founded in 1999 by Eileen and Peter Jacobs and will celebrate 20 years of its residency programme in 2020. For further information please visit: http://covepark.org, and follow @CovePark and www.facebook.com/Cove-Park

5. SCAN – Scottish Contemporary Art Network is a member led network committed to championing and supporting the contemporary art sector in Scotland. Our vision is that the role, impact and benefits of contemporary visual arts are widely recognised as central to society and that sector professionals based in Scotland are informed, innovative and supported to achieve their ambitions. SCAN is participating in the professional development programme for Scotland + Venice to help open up these opportunities and address the significant barriers that people can face in pursuing or progressing a professional career in the visual arts. To find out more about such barriers, you can read SCAN’s Demographics report, published in October 2018 and accessed here: https://sca-net.org/downloads/5bb230af29894-scandemographicsreportfinal.pdf

6. The Templar Arts and Leisure Centre Tarbert (talc.) offers all year round arts, media and technology education, portfolio courses, work tasters, trips to contemporary art exhibition and an own exhibition programme. Children and young people have access to extraordinary equipment and workshop opportunities – with an emphasis on working with professional artists, makers and musicians. talc. is the the only independent media & arts education facility for children and young people in Kintyre and Mid Argyll and strives to give young people from remote areas access to training and careers in the creative industries. More information: http://www.talc.org.uk/

7. Art Fund is the national fundraising charity for art. In the past five years alone Art Fund has given £34 million to help museums and galleries acquire works of art for their collections. It also helps museums share their collections with wider audiences by supporting a range of tours and exhibitions, and makes additional grants to support the training and professional development of curators. Art Fund is independently funded, with the core of its income provided by 151,000 members who receive the National Art Pass and enjoy free entry to over 240 museums, galleries and historic places across the UK, as well as 50% off entry to major exhibitions and subscription to Art Quarterly magazine. In addition to grant-giving, Art Fund’s support for museums includes Art Fund Museum of the Year (won by Tate St Ives in 2018) and a range of digital platforms. Find out more about Art Fund and the National Art Pass at www.artfund.org