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The 27th SALA Festival commences today, marking the start of a month-long artistic showcase across the state

The 27th South Australian Living Artists (SALA) Festival commences today, featuring an astounding 10,598 artists across 706 exhibitions throughout Adelaide and regional SA.

Running from 1-31 August, SALA highlights the diverse talents of South Australia’s artistic community, showcasing works from beginners, emerging artists, and established professionals. Visitors can explore a wide array of mediums such as painting, sculpture, ceramics, craft, digital art, moving images, photography, textiles, and installations. With countless venues and artists to discover, the SALA Festival promises an enriching artistic journey for all.

SALA interim CEO Bridget Alfred enthused “SALA Festival 2024 is off to a very strong start! Exhibition Openings have already begun, and we are noticing increased confidence across the entire program this year. We have a record number of 700+ exhibitions and events registered, and these range from internationally collected artists to the very nearly emerged. Venues and precincts are throwing their support behind artists and art is about to explode all over South Australia – we have shows from Roxy Downs and Ceduna to the border at Pinnaroo!

There are more SALA Hub events and tours at our new home at ILA, letting South Australians, connect, discover and get involved in the fun of the festival and many have already sold out! South Australian artists lead each and every event and every ticket sold helps to create opportunities for artists.

SALA Festival is the world’s largest open access visual arts festival and the 2024 program is outstanding! We’re looking forward to a brilliant August full of art, audiences and artists and encourage everyone to grab a program from your local Foodland, libraries, exhibition venues across SA, jump online or download the 2024SALA app and make the most of it.

If you see a work of art that you love, keep an eye out for a barcode, it will lead you to SHOP SALA, where you’ll be able to make sure that piece of art goes home with you at the end of the exhibition, and you can feel proud knowing you’re supporting South Australian artists.”

Highlights for this year include:

The 2024 SALA Hub finds its new home at ILA Light Square. It’s a perfect spot to catch up with friends for a meal or beverage and take in the exhibition ‘Proximity in the Light Room Gallery with work by artists Gus Clutterbuck, Monika Morgenstern, Charlotte Tatton and Lesley Redgate.

Workshops – The Light Room Bar will feature several events, including the ‘It Takes Two’ workshop on 8 August with Dan Withey for a night of fun creative manoeuvres and the Sketchy workshop on 29 August where Sally Heinrich will guide participants through a series of entertaining drawing activities.

SALA Networking Event – another event in the Light Room Bar invites artists and gallery representatives to meet each other in a relaxed setting. This is a chance for artists to ask about opportunities, callouts, programs, workshops, and studio spaces, hand out some business cards, or simply put a face to a name. 22 August.

SALA’s Slide Night returns on 15 August, a night full of energy and fun, where you’ll hear from SA artists about their art, passions, and more. This event offers a lively glimpse into the minds of South Australia’s contemporary artists.

Bus Tours – the SALA Hub is also the departure point for the ever-popular SALA bus and walking tours. On 3 August artist OAKEY will lead the Karoonda Silos Bus Tour which includes talks at the Hahndorf Academy, a behind-the-scenes look in Ondeen, an exclusive park tour at Monarto Safari Park, and dinner under the stars at the Karoonda Lights opening event. On the same day, the Port Adelaide Enfield Bus tour hosted by artist Tony Kearney will celebrate MELTFest and go behind the scenes at art venues from Klemzig to the Port. You’ll hear from artists, watch workshops, and finish off with a wander through the Handmade Night Markets.

Self Guided Tours – if you like exploring on your own, there are regional self-guided tours available in the Adelaide Hills, Barossa, Encounter Bay, McLaren Vale, and the Limestone Coast. For more information, visit the SALA website or download the app.

Walking Tours – this year’s walking tours include the Street Art Walking Tour, Local & Contemporary Art Tour, First Nations Tour, a SALA Art Tour in Ukrainian, and the ever-popular Dog-Friendly Art Tour where you and your furry friend can walk through some of Adelaide’s city galleries together

Open Studios Weekend, 10 & 11 August, is a great opportunity for a behind-the-scenes experience, as creatives across South Australia welcome you into their studios. From group to home studios, this weekend features a host of different spaces and artists for you to visit. There are additional openings held throughout the festival.

SALA’s featured artist exhibitions – Julia Robinson is SALA’s featured artist and you can find her work featured on the cover of the SALA program. Julia will exhibit Split by The Spade at Adelaide Central Gallery from 30 July – 6 September, the latest in her ongoing series of odes to the folk horror genre. Julia will also display some of her past works at the Art Gallery of South Australia in Sculptural Storytelling from 1 – 31 August.

SALA Forums – Julia Robinson is the subject of this year’s Monograph penned by writers Hannah Kent, Leigh Robb, and Jess Taylor. On 3 August Julia and the writers will be part of a Forum at Adelaide Central School of Art to discuss the ins and outs of their examination of over twenty years of Julia’s prolific and wildly imaginative visual art practice. Another Forum ‘Arts in Health presented by Flinders Medical Centre and SALA is ‘Humanity in Living and Dying’ featuring a panel discussion with the 2024 SALA Artist in Residence Dr Daniel Connell Resident, Dr Tim To, Dr Peter Allcroft and Brigid Noone on 23 August.

SALA’s Project Artists this year include Nicole Black and James Dodd whose artwork features on this year’s SALA Skoda cars. Each year SALA creates a limited edition garment featuring work by a South Australian artist and this year Georgia Cheesman’s design ‘On the soft wind she flew’ is featured, to purchase one just head to the SALA website. Don’t forget to pick up a SALA tote bag at your nearest Foodland around the state, this year’s bags feature artwork by artists Lucinda Penn, Eliza Koch, and Amanda Westley.