Explore

What would you do with £5,000 to explore immersive arts?

If you have a creative practice but little or no experience of immersive arts/ technologies, you could get funding, support and advice to be curious and spark some new thinking.

Ideal for...

The Explore strand of funding aims to support artists with:

  • early stage exploration of immersive technologies
  • developing basic immersive arts skills and knowledge
  • experiencing immersive artworks
  • meeting potential collaborators
  • expanding their networks.

Focus

Successful applicants will be supported for up to six months
(ie for the duration of their projects) by the Immersive Arts producers and wider network.

Timelines

  • 02 December 2024 Round one application deadline.
  • 02 December 2024 Awarded artists announced.
  • March - August 2024 Projects carried out.

Find out more in the Immersive Arts guidelines, then start your application.

Why Apply?

Are you an artist with a curious mind who’d like to push the limits of your practice? We hope that’s why you’re reading this, and why you will apply.

You could use the funding for:

  • planning, researching and developing,
or delivering, a new immersive arts project
  • attending residencies, relevant events and workshops
  • accessing training and other forms of support
  • buying materials, software licences
and other technical tools
  • paying artists, technologists and other collaborators
  • hiring studio, rehearsal, exhibition or event spaces
  • researching and integrating accessibility options
for audiences’ access needs
  • making audience testing or exhibitions more accessible, diverse and inclusive (by, for eg, paying for BSL interpreters, accessible formats, captioning, etc).
  • marketing your project and developing your audience (Expand and Experiment only)

See the Immersive Arts guidelines
for a full breakdown of eligible costs.

Eligibility

You are eligible to apply for an Immersive Arts grant if you:

  • are an individual artist, creative
practitioner or creative technologist
  • are an arts-based organisation, small group
or collective (10 people or fewer for Experiment
and Explore, up to 50 people for Expand)
  • are based in the UK
  • are aged 18 or over
  • have a UK bank account in your own name.

See the Immersive Arts guidelines for more information.

How to apply

To apply for a grant, you’ll need to create an account
in our application portal. We recommend reading this
step-by-step guide before you start your application.

Please apply for the full amount stated for each strand.

When to apply

The first round of funding is open from now until midday on Monday 2  December 2024.

Explore and Experiment applicants will be notified
in February 2025.

Anyone applying to Expand will be contacted in January 2025, when shortlisted applicants will be invited to an interview.

Rounds two and three will open in 2025 and 2026.

Apply now to Explore, Experiment or Expand.

  • Round 01 XX Month & year
  • Round 02 XX Month & year
  • Round 03 XX Month & year

Download guidelines

  • English
  • Welsh
  • Large print
  • Easy Read

Download funding portal guide

  • English
  • Welsh

Access support

You can apply by audio, video or text, and
in English or Welsh, or British Sign Language. If you need to apply in a different format or require additional support (like sign language interpreters), then please just let us know. We may be able to provide financial assistance.

Requesting
access support
for applications

If you need this information in any other format, access support to apply, or have any other access questions,
send us an email or call or text on 07123 456 789.

Note our phone is only staffed during daytime working hours – if you call outside those hours just leave a message and someone will get back to you.

The deadline for access support is 4 November 2024, four weeks before the application deadline, which gives us a bit
of time to ensure you get the support you need.

Access support
for funded projects

We can provide additional funding to successful applicants to support a range of access requirements (eg, paying a support worker, scribe or sign language interpreter).

Mentoring and training support offered along with the funding can be adapted for those with access requirements and/ or caring roles.

For example the Development Labs run by Crossover
Labs as part of the Experiment awards will have three alternative, flexible options:

  • Residential – one week (five days).
  • Online – five days spread over five weeks.
  • Relaxed track – ten half days over a longer
duration in response to each cohort, with
online and in person options.

Get in touch to find out more.

Have any questions?
Visit our FAQs page here

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