Contemporary art from a working rural place.
ROOVA ARTS
Roova Arts creates ambitious contemporary art, learning and exchange from a working farm in the Yorkshire Dales.
We work with artists, farmers, communities, schools, universities and cultural and environmental organisations. Our programme pays attention to rural labour, class, land, ecology, belonging and the knowledge held in working places.
Roova was founded in response to the isolation and unequal access experienced by rural and working-class artists and communities. People should not have to leave the places where they belong in order to participate in culture, develop their practice or be taken seriously. We are not part of the farm. Set up by Jo to share her skills with others.
What we do
Public programme
Seasonal events, exhibitions, farm walks, workshops, gatherings and conversations that bring contemporary art into contact with everyday rural life.
Artist development and connection
Socials, supported creative days, peer exchange and carefully developed opportunities for artists who are rural, working-class, isolated from established networks or interested in land and labour.
Learning and field research
Visits and projects for schools, universities, artists, farmers and community groups using photography, oral history, sound, mapping, walking and close observation.
Partnerships
Rural engagement and research developed with museums, universities, farming networks, environmental organisations and rural communities.
How we work
Our work begins with time: walking, listening, drinking tea, looking closely and building relationships with people and places. Projects may use photography, sound, installation, oral history, writing, mapping, workshops or gatherings.
We do not treat rural communities as scenery or a ready-made audience. We value lived experience, agricultural knowledge, local history, creative practice and the quieter forms of expertise that are often overlooked.
Current work
Our developing programme includes farm, art and place walks; rural photography and storytelling workshops; seasonal gatherings; artist socials; learning visits; and partnerships exploring farming, nature and rural culture.
Walk the farm differently.
Moorhen Farm: Art, Land and Rural Life Walk
A guided seasonal walk exploring the farm, its cattle, meadows, buildings and wildlife alongside the stories, labour and artistic questions held within the landscape.
The walk combines farming knowledge with Joanne Coates’s methods of walking, listening, photography and close observation. It ends with time for tea, conversation and a simple field-based creative activity.
Available on selected public dates and for pre-booked groups.
What the walk includes: The farm and its history, Beef Shorthorn cattle and grazing, Meadows, woodland, water and wildlife, The labour and seasonal decisions involved in a working upland farm, Joanne’s artistic methods of walking, listening, photography and observation, A simple creative exercise that can be completed with a camera, phone or notebook, Tea and something to eat in the barn.
Practical information
Duration: Usually three hours. Public photography walk-and-talk dates normally run from 11am to 2pm.
Group size: 5-12.
Price: £22 per person
Who it is for
The walk is offered in four formats:
Scheduled public dates
Private group visits
School and university visits
Professional and organisational group days by enquiry
Access and conditions
This activity takes place on a working livestock farm. Routes may include uneven and sloping ground, mud, gates and changing weather. The exact distance, terrain, toilets, seating, shelter and alternative options are stated on each event page.
Please tell us about access requirements when you enquire. We will be honest about what the site can currently offer and adapt the route or activity where possible.
Why Roova exists.
A rural arts organisation growing from a working farm, lived experience and a belief that ambitious culture belongs everywhere.
Roova Arts was founded by Joanne Coates, a working-class visual artist and farm worker, in response to the isolation and unequal access experienced by rural artists and communities.
We believe ambitious contemporary art can be made in working rural places. People should not have to leave the places where they belong in order to participate in culture, develop their practice or be taken seriously.
Roova is based at Moorhen Farm in Coverdale. It is being built slowly and collaboratively, with artists, farmers, local communities and partner organisations. The artistic programme fits around the realities of livestock, land, weather, access and the people who live and work here.
Our values
Rural places are not empty
They hold labour, memory, knowledge, conflict, creativity and changing communities. We resist romantic and simplistic accounts of rural life.
Different knowledge matters
Artistic, agricultural, academic, local and lived knowledge can sit together without one being treated as automatically more valuable.
Access must be practical
We give clear information, listen to access needs and recognise barriers created by money, transport, geography, disability, class and unfamiliar cultural spaces.
Care and ambition belong together
We want work to be thoughtful, rigorous and professionally delivered without reproducing the pressures and exclusions that keep people out.
Partners, funders and supporters
Roova’s work is made possible through project partnerships, public funding, earned income and the time and knowledge contributed by participants and collaborators.
Our impact
Each year we will publish a short, plain account of what took place: events and visits delivered, people involved, artists paid, partnerships developed, access support provided and what we learned or changed.
Ready?
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