South Australian not-for-profit social enterprise ILA (Immersive Light and Art),  formerly Light ADL, is set to launch an artist fund to assist emerging practitioners.

The initiative will comprise a share of $50,000, as well as access to ILA facilities, including the Light Room, a film/TV production studio that specialises in mixed reality and virtual production.

ILA CEO Nic Mercer said the idea was to provide multiple avenues of support to artists.

“The purpose of the ILA Artist Fund isn’t to have an outcome at the end of it,” he said.

“There could just be a residency where an artist gets to upskill with some of the immersive technology. That is completely fine and acceptable.”

He added ILA was keen to assist a variety of artists and projects.

“One of the things we are really big on here is providing access to all artists at any stage of their career in any genre,” he said.

“We are not limiting anything; you can be an artist who wants to produce something that ends up being in our gallery space, through to anything immersive in tech.”

It comes as the organisation ushers in a new identity as ILA in 2024, hosting the world premiere season of digital art film experience Anomalous, while also announcing an expanded 2024 Adelaide Fringe program.

Based in Adelaide’s Light Square, the not-for-profit incorporates performance space The Lab, as well as the aforementioned Light Room.

Mercer said the creation of ILA coincided with a time of tremendous advancements for artists and performers.

“The next generation of art is about experiencing things that catch the memory and move the soul,” he said.

“That’s a new age of art, a new world that ILA wants to live in.”

Applications for the ILA Artist Fund will open via its website in April.

Read the full article in Inside Film Magazine here.