Immersive Arts - Round One Learnings

In this Lunchtime Talk, Ruth McCullough, Executive Producer, and Michelle Rumney, Producer for England, share some key learnings from the first Immersive Arts funding round.

They reflect on the types of projects and technologies that emerged, some of the common themes and challenges applicants faced, and what helped certain applications stand out. They also offer practical advice for artists thinking about applying in the final round of funding, read the First Round Commentary.

They hope this is useful for those who applied to Immersive Arts in the first round, as well as anyone considering an application in the future. The next round of Immersive Arts funding is now open and close on Mon 29 Sep 2025.

About Immersive Arts

Immersive Arts is a funding and support programme for UK-based artists, designed to help them develop their practice through the use of immersive technologies. Artists at all levels of experience are invited to apply — whether they want to explore, experiment with, or expand their work in this exciting field.

Ruth McCullough (she/her) is the Executive Producer of Immersive Arts, Based at Watershed, Bristol. She is a creative director and producer specialising in art, technology, and sustainability. From 2009 to 2023, she was Producer then Director of Abandon Normal Devices (AND), leading the UK’s only roaming digital biennial and collaborations with artists such as Marshmallow Laser Feast, Matthew Plummer Fernandez, Daito Manabe, Ubermorgen, Eva & Franco Mattes, and Studio Roosegaarde.

Michelle Rumney (she/her) is the Producer for England at Immersive Arts. Michelle is a practicing fine artist and trained coach with a technical background in post-production and SFX. With over three years at StoryFutures and StoryTrails, she brings expertise in immersive prototyping, testing, and audience-based research to support artists on the programme.