Artists urged to apply for UWE Bristol-led Immersive Arts project grants

Immersive Arts is calling for artists nationwide to apply for grants worth up to £50,000 to help them explore the use of technology in their creative efforts.

Artists will have the opportunity to access training and mentoring, with a total of £3.6 million in grant funding available between 2024 and 2027.

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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.

Grants of £5,000, £20,000 and £50,000 are available as part of the three-year project, with the aim of supporting more than 200 artists.

"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," said principal investigator and director of Immersive Arts, Verity McIntosh, who is also associate professor of virtual and extended realities at UWE Bristol.

"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.

She added: "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."

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.

The first round of funding has now opened for applications and invites artists to apply to one of three distinct funding strands.

Explore (£5,000) - ideal for individuals, small groups, or organisations (10 employees or fewer) with limited or no experience in immersive arts.

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.

For more information, click HERE.