The South Australian Living Artists Festival (SALA, or SALA Festival) is a statewide, open-access visual arts festival which takes place throughout August in South Australia each year. The SALA features a range of approximately 600 venues including galleries and non-traditional spaces such as cafes, bookshops, and cemeteries which exhibit all forms of visual arts.

Organisation

The SALA Festival was established in 1998 as an initiative of the Australian Commercial Galleries Association, SA Branch, to promote and celebrate visual artists in South Australia. Its aim is to extend audiences for living artists in South Australia, with a policy of inclusiveness which allows all artists at any level and working in any medium to be part of the Festival. Originally called the South Australian Living Artists Week, its name was changed to SALA Festival in 2002. The SALA Festival is a not-for-profit organisation that relies on government support, private sponsorship and earned income to invest back into South Australian artists.

Governance

Chair

Festival Awards

SALA Festival offers a number of prizes to artists and venues.

South Australian Living Artist Publication

The South Australian Living Artist Publication is an award launched in 1999 as part of the SALA Festival. With funding provided by the South Australian Government, a publication (book) is commissioned and written on a leading South Australian artist or craftsperson with potential for national and international promotion and published by Wakefield Press. The first recipient of the South Australian Living Artist Publication was Annette Bezor. The most recent recipient whose publication will be published in 2024 is Julia Robinson.

South Australian Living Artist Publication recipients

SALA Awards

Several prizes are awarded as part of the SALA Festival. Prizes and recipients from notable sponsors are listed below:

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020 - present

Awards

Statistics