Our Dream

Illuminart stories in light are Australia’s most experienced storytelling projection art directors.

Working across the disciplines of theatre, visual arts, architecture, and events, our expertise includes Large-scale Architectural Projection, Permanent Projection, Creative Direction and Curation.

Our reputation is the result of the highest attention to quality and service, providing our customers with complete solutions to their project needs.

Illuminart has grown from the passion and inspiration of collaborating artists, innovators and technologists.

Working as a network, supporting projects Australia-wide – developing regional arts projects, permanent cultural attractions and immersive events – illuminart create spectacular projections and stories in light that amplify the unique significance of each project.

Our Dream is to help your organisation or community make the most of projection and light technology, to engage and fulfill your audience while building projects that leave a lasting legacy.

Working with you

Illuminart’s team bring together regional artists, animators, technologists and producers to provide a full package of service and support from the initial idea, through to delivery and ongoing support of your project. We work from the smallest projects in outback regional communities, through to large scale architectural projection and corporate storytelling, as well as developing our own in-house creative projects.

We can assist you with :

Consultancy to answer your burning questions about projection
Full design, installation and management of permanent architectural projection and light systems
Full design, creation and presentation of Building projection, Son et Lumiere
Commissions and Public Arts Projects
Community Arts and Heritage Interpretation projects
Projector and equipment hire and sales
Feasibility studies for technical and creative installations
Creative design, direction and animation services for projection
Storytelling, interpreting and sharing local heritage in Arts projects
Urban transformation and creative initiatives through public art
Clever things with light – for festivals, events, special projects
Digital / cultural leadership projects
Interactive and immersive projects
Commissioned research
Youth Arts Projects and Projection mapping just for fun
Curating, training workshops and project mentorship

Our Story

Cindi Drennan began combining video, animation and illustration in the 1980s, winning awards as a young film-maker in South Australia. After building a profile as a multimedia specialist in Sydney, she forged a career as a performance video artist, pioneering techniques in projection mapping and live painting in light, and in 1997 established the company that grew to become illuminart Stories in Light.

The first illuminart project in 2004, enticed artists to explore using the medium of projection to transform spaces with animated display, and a subsequent series of projects enabled Cindi Drennan to established a new model for combining the arts of illustration, installation and narrative, and a methodology for developing digital media collaboratively, supporting arts and culture to shine in regional communities.

Initially focused on projects in Regional SA from 2007, the team expanded as Co-founder Craig Laurendet joined illuminart in 2010 creating a NSW base in the Blue Mountains, later joined by creative producers in WA and Victoria. Today, illuminart collaborates with and employs a national team of projection arts and illumination specialists who work on commissioned and self-produced works stunningly presented throughout the country. Winning awards for excellence in business, inclusion and innovation, our story has become one of imaginative brilliance, cultural leadership and authentic community engagement.

Illuminart are best known for our Architectural Storytelling form of projection art, combining large scale mapped projection onto architecture with animated audiovisual narratives. Other accomplishments include permanent projection systems designed and maintained by illuminart; interactive projections and projection sculptures that generate image from movement, sneaky and fun guerilla projections and street activations, and collaborative hybrid media projects to develop innovative forms of luminous artistry that enliven theatre, creative events and urban spaces.

Our projection art has featured at creative events and festivals, museums and cultural precincts around Australia. Illuminart and Gotye’s Fractured Heart Interactive was featured at VIVID Sydney and displayed at National Film and Sound Archive in Canberra ACT. Other well known projects include Yabarra – Gathering of Light; Luminous Hall in WA, and the award winning Port Inhabited in SA. You can see more examples on our Highlights page.

In parallel with our care for content and story in our work with groups, festivals and businesses, we have accomplished many ‘firsts’ in our industry. In the early days our research and innovation provided successful projection mapping techniques before commercial tools even were available. Now, we continue to invent and reveal new ways of working with light, bringing interactivity, virtual reality and remote presence into projects to engage audiences in new ways.

Our artists and technologists (the illuminarty) have evolved their skills and knowledge through the ongoing crafting and evaluation of what we do, whether it is a son et lumier, a performance or corporate presentation, or an immersive experience. Each of our installations, small or large, is created through our effective collaborative relationships with the people and places who want their stories, events and celebrations to shine.

Illuminart has been developed and evolved by our team and our peers through a constant refinement of artistic process, knowledge and service. We look forward to continuing our story, and offering enlightenment for decades to come.

We love our work and want to assist you to fully explore the magical qualities of projection art and illuminating projects.

To find out more please contact us.