Artists have just a few weeks left to register for the 2017 South Australian Living Artists (SALA) Festival (1-31 August), with exhibition registrations closing 15 May.
Local business owners are also being encouraged to list their venues as exhibition spaces, using the SALA website to match with an artist wanting to show their works during the month-long festival.
Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, the 2017 SALA Festival is an innovative, open-access visual arts festival celebrating and promoting the diverse talents of South Australian living artists.
Encompassing all forms of visual art – painting, sculpture and jewellery to video, multimedia and much more – the festival presents the works of thousands of established and emerging artists in hundreds of spaces throughout metropolitan and regional South Australia every August.
Some of the interesting and unique exhibition spaces currently available include Glenelg cinema GU Film House, Chateau Yaldara winery in the Barossa and even Port Adelaide tattoo parlour Black Diamond Tattoos, as well as many cafes, pubs, restaurants and galleries.
Registration also makes artists eligible to enter in the 2017 SALA Awards, with more than $38,000 in cash and prizes to be won across eight categories.
SALA Festival Director Penny Griggs says being a part of SALA provided many advantages for both emerging and established artists. “Since the SALA Festival's inception in 1998, August has become known as South Australia’s visual arts month, where artists of all skill levels are celebrated and acknowledged.
“The event offers emerging artists a platform to exhibit outside of their training institution and established local gallery spaces make an annual commitment to South Australian artists,” Penny says.
“It might be cold outside, but thanks to SALA winter is the hottest time of year for South Australian artists to showcase their work and connect with new audiences.”
Exhibition registrations are open to artists of all types, backgrounds and experience levels, with the only requirement being they must be a current resident of South Australia.
Originally called SALA Week, the event was established to develop audiences and create opportunities for South Australian artists, and in its first year featured exhibitions in 41 venues. Since then it has grown exponentially to become a month-long celebration of local art throughout the state, last year presenting the works of more than 4,600 artists in 630 free exhibitions across 570 venues.
Some of Australia's most exciting and dynamic artists, both established and emerging, are represented in the 2017 programme, due to be released 8 July.
