Immersive Arts opens applications with grants up to £50,000 available

Immersive Arts, a UK-wide programme to support artists to make and share extraordinary immersive work, has opened applications for its first round of funding.

Grants of £5,000, £20,000 and £50,000 are available as part of the three-year project, with the aim of supporting over 200 artists to explore the possibilities of immersive technology for their creative practice.

The consortium delivering the Immersive Arts project is led by UWE Bristol, with the lead hub at Pervasive Media Studio in Bristol, and Watershed as Executive Producer.

Working in close partnership with the University of Bristol and cultural organisations in Belfast and Derry (Nerve Centre), Cardiff (Wales Millennium Centre) and Glasgow (Cryptic), as well as Crossover Labs, Unlimited, XR Diversity Initiative and the Innovate UK Immersive Tech Network, Immersive Arts will generate a rich programme of inclusive and accessible opportunities, breaking down the barriers for artists of all backgrounds to engage with immersive tools.

Artists will have the opportunity to access training, mentoring, specialist facilities and vital funds, with a total of £3.6 million in grant funding available between 2024 and 2027 to get ideas off the ground and further develop existing projects.

The first round of funding has now opened for applications and invites artists to apply to one of three distinct funding strands, each designed to support different stages of creative development: 

• Explore (£5,000): Ideal for individuals, small groups, or organisations (10 employees or fewer) with limited or no experience in immersive arts. This grant will enable artists to explore immersive technologies, develop ideas, experience work, or meet potential collaborators.
• Experiment (£20,000): For individuals or micro-entities (10 employees or fewer) to support the creation of experimental immersive art works or prototypes that can be tested with small audiences.
• Expand (£50,000): For individuals, micro-entities, or small organisations (50 employees or fewer) looking to advance existing projects to their next stage for development, testing or presentation.

The training and showcasing programme will be led by Crossover Labs, with strategic input from Unlimited, Innovate UK Immersive Tech Network and XR Diversity Initiative and an international Advisory Board.

For more information and to apply go to immersivearts.uk

Principal Investigator and Director of Immersive Arts, Verity McIntosh, Associate Professor of Virtual and Extended Realities at UWE Bristol, said: “Artists have always been incredible innovators; they explore different mediums, techniques, and ways of expressing ideas, using a vast range of materials to connect with audiences in unexpected ways.

“We know that artists often ask brilliant questions of technology through their work, but one of the challenges for artists in recent years is that immersive technologies have been difficult to access and work with and many have felt cut out of the sector.

“We have seen that when people are able to access training and support, allowing them to explore some of these technologies, the work they produce is often powerful, beautiful and poignant. UK artists currently working in this field are already celebrated around the world for their incredible storytelling and creativity. Immersive Arts will help to grow a diverse community of practice, supporting artists in all four nations of the UK to connect with, and to shape the global conversation.

“We want to support this growing community of artists who are wanting to engage with this technology, to create things that we would never have expected and to open up new conversations with audiences that examine the role that technology plays in contemporary society.”

Funding for Immersive Arts is provided through a collaboration between the UKRI Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), Arts Council England, the Arts Council of Wales (ACW), Creative Scotland and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland (ACNI). Funding from Creative Scotland, ACW and ACNI is provided by The National Lottery.

To receive ongoing information on the project and funding opportunities, artists can sign up to the Immersive Arts mailing list.