The Ruby Awards honour outstanding work of South Australia’s arts and culture sector.

Named after late arts patron, Dame Ruby Litchfield, the annual awards recognise artistic excellence, creative achievement, innovation, community involvement and inspirational leadership.

Timeframe
Nominations open11am Monday 24 July 2023
Nominations close 5pm Monday 4 September 2023
Shortlisted nominees announced Early November 2023
Awards announced Early December 2023

Award categories

This award is for an outstanding artistic or cultural event or project that has had a significant positive impact on a community in South Australia.

A community may be defined by a uniting factor, such as geographic location, cultural background, religious belief, gender or disability, or it could be an online community.

The award is open to:

  • Arts and culture sector
  • Community organisations
  • Individual artists
  • Local and State Government
  • Not-for-profit sector
  • Private enterprise
  • Professional artists and organisations.

Judges consider:

  • The artistic merit of the event/activity, its originality and quality
  • How the work/event/activity has contributed to the development of its art form/event type/ activity
  • How the nominee has contributed to South Australia through arts and culture.

This award is for an outstanding artistic or cultural event or project that has had a significant positive impact on a regional community in South Australia.

A community may be defined by a uniting factor, such as geographic location, cultural background, religious belief, gender or disability, or it could be an online community.

The award is open to:

  • Arts and culture sector
  • Community organisations
  • Individual artists
  • Local and State Government
  • Not-for-profit sector
  • Private enterprise
  • Professional artists and organisations.

Judges consider:

  • The artistic merit of the event/activity, its originality and quality
  • How the work/event/activity has contributed to the development of its art form/event type/ activity
  • How the nominee has contributed to South Australia through arts and culture.

This award is for an outstanding arts or cultural work, event or project for young people presented or held in South Australia. Nominees must be able to demonstrate a positive impact on and/or outcomes for young people.

The nominated work can be a performance, show, production, film, visual arts exhibition, publication, project or initiative aimed specifically at people aged 30 years and under.

The award is open to:

  • Arts and culture sector
  • Community organisations
  • Individual artists
  • Local and State Government
  • Not-for-profit sector
  • Private enterprise
  • Professional artists and organisations.

Judges consider:

  • The artistic merit of the event/activity, its originality, quality and impact
  • How the work/event/activity has contributed to the development of its art form/event type/ activity
  • How the nominee has contributed to South Australia through arts and culture.

This award is for an outstanding work or event presented or held as part of a festival program in South Australia.

Works and events can include performances, shows, productions, films, artworks, publications and visual arts exhibitions presented as part of a festival.

The award is open to:

  • Arts and culture sector
  • Community organisations
  • Individual artists
  • Local and State Government
  • Not-for-profit sector
  • Private enterprise
  • Professional artists and organisations.

Judges consider:

  • The artistic merit of the event/activity, its originality and quality
  • How the work/event/activity has contributed to the development of its art form/event type/ activity
  • How the nominee has contributed to South Australia through arts and culture.

This award is for an outstanding work or event presented or held in South Australia, not as part of a festival program.

Works and events can include performances, shows, productions, films, artworks, publications and visual arts exhibitions presented not as part of a festival.

The award is open to:

  • Arts and culture sector
  • Community organisations
  • Individual artists
  • Local and State Government
  • Not-for-profit sector
  • Private enterprise
  • Professional artists and organisations.

Judges consider:

  • The artistic merit of the event/activity, its originality and quality
  • How the work/event/activity has contributed to the development of its art form/event type/ activity
  • How the nominee has contributed to South Australia through arts and culture.

This award recognises activities that encourage strategic and innovative collaboration between independent artists and groups, funded arts and cultural organisations or with organisations outside the arts and cultural sector.

Nominations will be accepted for creative developments, projects, events, exhibitions, publications or performances that have been developed through a collaborative process that includes the sharing of resources and knowledge.

Both the partners involved, and the outcomes of the collaboration will be considered for the award.

The award is open to:

  • Arts and culture sector
  • Community organisations
  • Individual artists
  • Local and State Government
  • Not-for-profit sector
  • Private enterprise
  • Professional artists and organisations.

Judges consider:

  • The artistic merit of the work/project/event/activity, its originality, quality and impact
  • How the work/project/event/activity has contributed to the development of its art form
  • What the input of the partners/collaborators has been.
  • How the input of the collaborator/partners has enhanced the outcome.

This award recognises a small-to-medium organisation or group that has made an outstanding contribution to arts and culture in South Australia.

Nominees must be small-to-medium arts or cultural organisations or groups, receiving no funding or less than $1 million in funding from Arts South Australia.

The award is open to:

  • Amateur companies
  • Small-to-medium funded and unfunded arts or cultural organisations
  • Community organisations
  • Not-for-profit sector
  • Private enterprise
  • Volunteer organisations or groups.

Judges consider:

  • How the nominee has demonstrated artistic merit, originality, quality, impact or leadership in their field
  • How the nominee has achieved peer recognition in their field.

Named in honour of South Australian theatre director Geoff Crowhurst, this award recognises the contribution of an individual or organisation to community arts and cultural development.

Nominees must be able to demonstrate credibility through involvement in arts and cultural projects that build stronger, more cohesive communities. This may be evidenced by creative collaborations between the arts and cultural sector and communities, working to achieve artistic and social outcomes.

A community is determined by a uniting factor, such as geographic location, cultural background, religious belief, gender or disability, or it could be an online community.

The award is open to:

  • Arts and culture sector workers
  • Community workers
  • Local and State Government workers
  • Not-for-profit sector workers
  • Private enterprise workers
  • Professional artists
  • Volunteers.

Judges consider:

  • How the nominee has demonstrated artistic merit, originality, quality, impact or leadership in their field
  • How the nominee has achieved peer recognition in their field.

This award recognises outstanding artistic or cultural achievement or contribution by an individual young South Australian. Nominees must be aged 30 years or under as of 30 June 2023.

The award is open to:

  • Arts and cultural sector workers
  • Community workers
  • Individual artists (professional and emerging)
  • Local and State Government workers
  • Not-for-profit sector workers
  • Private enterprise workers
  • Volunteers.

Judges consider:

  • How the nominee has demonstrated artistic merit, originality, quality, impact or leadership in their field
  • How the nominee has achieved peer recognition in their field.

This award recognises outstanding artistic or cultural achievement or contribution by a South Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-focused organisation or group, or an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander identified individual.

The award is open to:

  • Arts and cultural sector
  • Community organisations
  • Individual artists (professional and emerging)
  • Local and State Government
  • Not-for-profit sector
  • Private enterprise
  • Volunteer sector.

Judges consider:

  • How the nominee has demonstrated artistic merit, originality, quality, impact or leadership in their field
  • How the nominee has achieved peer recognition in their field.

This award recognises an extraordinary South Australian who, through a lifetime of outstanding service, has made an indelible contribution to arts and culture.

Nominees must be able to demonstrate credibility through a lifetime’s body of work, creative originality, professionalism or leadership.

The award is open to:

  • Arts and cultural sector workers
  • Community workers
  • Local and State Government workers
  • Not-for-profit sector workers
  • Private enterprise workers
  • Professional artists
  • Volunteers.

Judges consider:

  • How the nominee has demonstrated artistic merit, originality, quality, impact or leadership in their field
  • How the nominee has achieved peer recognition in their field.

Nominations guidelines

Please refer to the nomination guidelines for information about the eligibility and nomination requirements.

Ruby Awards reflections

Hear from some of our 2022 Ruby Award recipients, including U City’s Claire Wildish, performing arts creative Lisa Lanzi, The Paperboats’ Dave Brown and Sarah Feijen from Guildhouse, as they reflect on the significance of the awards and why you should consider nominating an outstanding artist or arts organisation for their artistic excellence, creative achievement, innovation, community involvement or inspirational leadership.

Previous Ruby Award recipients

Ruby Awards 2022

Ruby Awards 2021

Ruby Awards 2020

Ruby Awards 2019

Ruby Awards 2018

Ruby Awards 2017

Ruby Awards 2016