SUMMARY: The League of Experiential and Immersive Artists (LEIA) is a new organization created by and for immersive theatre producers and experience designers. LEIA seeks to advance the immersive and experiential arts through collaboration, education, and advocacy on behalf of creators and producers. In the coming months, LEIA will be recruiting members and staffing its committees with members of the immersive arts community. If you are interested in getting involved, email contact@leia.design.
In these past few years, we've seen an incredible expansion of immersive art, in all its forms, across the nation and the world.
Every week, more and more creators are unveiling projects—from intimate theatre productions and escape rooms to large-scale virtual reality and leisure resorts—that focus on immersive audience experiences.
We can see a common language of creation emerging, as makers of diverse types of work come together, influencing each other, collectively pushing the state of the art forward, grappling with the question of how we tell stories in a world that often feels more isolating even as we grow more “connected.”
To help foster this momentum, and in response to the needs voiced by community members in informal meetings over the last year, we are pleased to announce the formation of LEIA: the League of Experiential and Immersive Artists.
LEIA seeks to advance the immersive and experiential arts through collaboration, education, and advocacy on behalf of creators and producers.
We envision LEIA as an industry group that engages with the most pressing issues of the immersive scene, beginning on a local level but with an eye toward the national and international, providing a platform for collective action that can effect meaningful change. Now more than ever, we must work together to safeguard artistic expression, bridge the gaps among diverse communities, and provide patrons with opportunities both to escape and to contemplate. LEIA provides a flexible structure that enables and empowers those in the immersive field.
In the months ahead LEIA will unveil our strategy to fulfill that mission: recruiting artists and producers to join our ranks and rolling out committees which will deal with some of the most pressing issues our growing movement faces, from permitting of venues to professional development.
Presently, LEIA membership will extend to immersive creators and producers, but we anticipate providing membership opportunities to other members of the immersive community down the line. LEIA will always, first and foremost, be structured as an organization that serves creators and producers—whether they are actors, designers, directors, educators, technicians, or venue owners. The focus is on providing needed infrastructure for these makers to do their best work with the fewest obstacles.
During our initial phase, LEIA will tackle issues around permitting, safety, and outreach to stakeholders both within and outside the immersive creator community. To accomplish this we are organizing creators and producers into committees and work groups to tackle specific areas of focus. We are actively looking for those who would like to work on these matters with us.
At the immediate moment LEIA is focused on Southern California. As we grow and establish our foundation, we will seek to share our learnings and systems with others across the globe.
As part of these efforts, we will be hosting a variety of events to foster the conversation among the community and continue to expand the ranks of LEIA’s members.
We know that by organizing together, we are ready to tackle the challenges ahead and advocate for the inherent value of the immersive form.
Reach us at contact@leia.design.
The LEIA Founding Committee Fall/Winter 2017
Matthew Bamberg-Johnson
Tommy Honton
Niyia Mack (2018-present)
Monica Miklas
Noah Nelson
Derek Spencer
Jenny Weinbloom
In these past few years, we've seen an incredible expansion of immersive art, in all its forms, across the nation and the world.
Every week, more and more creators are unveiling projects—from intimate theatre productions and escape rooms to large-scale virtual reality and leisure resorts—that focus on immersive audience experiences.
We can see a common language of creation emerging, as makers of diverse types of work come together, influencing each other, collectively pushing the state of the art forward, grappling with the question of how we tell stories in a world that often feels more isolating even as we grow more “connected.”
To help foster this momentum, and in response to the needs voiced by community members in informal meetings over the last year, we are pleased to announce the formation of LEIA: the League of Experiential and Immersive Artists.
LEIA seeks to advance the immersive and experiential arts through collaboration, education, and advocacy on behalf of creators and producers.
We envision LEIA as an industry group that engages with the most pressing issues of the immersive scene, beginning on a local level but with an eye toward the national and international, providing a platform for collective action that can effect meaningful change. Now more than ever, we must work together to safeguard artistic expression, bridge the gaps among diverse communities, and provide patrons with opportunities both to escape and to contemplate. LEIA provides a flexible structure that enables and empowers those in the immersive field.
In the months ahead LEIA will unveil our strategy to fulfill that mission: recruiting artists and producers to join our ranks and rolling out committees which will deal with some of the most pressing issues our growing movement faces, from permitting of venues to professional development.
Presently, LEIA membership will extend to immersive creators and producers, but we anticipate providing membership opportunities to other members of the immersive community down the line. LEIA will always, first and foremost, be structured as an organization that serves creators and producers—whether they are actors, designers, directors, educators, technicians, or venue owners. The focus is on providing needed infrastructure for these makers to do their best work with the fewest obstacles.
During our initial phase, LEIA will tackle issues around permitting, safety, and outreach to stakeholders both within and outside the immersive creator community. To accomplish this we are organizing creators and producers into committees and work groups to tackle specific areas of focus. We are actively looking for those who would like to work on these matters with us.
At the immediate moment LEIA is focused on Southern California. As we grow and establish our foundation, we will seek to share our learnings and systems with others across the globe.
As part of these efforts, we will be hosting a variety of events to foster the conversation among the community and continue to expand the ranks of LEIA’s members.
We know that by organizing together, we are ready to tackle the challenges ahead and advocate for the inherent value of the immersive form.
Reach us at contact@leia.design.
The LEIA Founding Committee Fall/Winter 2017
Matthew Bamberg-Johnson
Tommy Honton
Niyia Mack (2018-present)
Monica Miklas
Noah Nelson
Derek Spencer
Jenny Weinbloom
