The Ruby Awards are South Australia's premier event to honour the best of the state's arts and cultural industry.
Named after late arts patron Dame Ruby Litchfield, the annual awards recognise artistic excellence, creative achievement, innovation, community involvement and inspirational leadership.
All winners receive a bespoke, ruby-coloured glasswork designed and made at the JamFactory. The recipient of the prestigious Premier’s Award is also honoured with a gold nameplate on a seat in the Festival Theatre.
The awards have been revamped for 2018 with new categories, expanding from 10 awards to 12. Read more about these changes here.
The winners of the 2018 Ruby Awards were announced on Saturday December 1, 2018. Click here to read more.
PAST WINNERS:
Note: From 2006 to 2011, the Ruby Awards were combined with the Australian Business Arts Foundation SA Awards.
Best Event
• WINNER: 2017 Adelaide Festival
• FINALISTS: 2017 DreamBIG Children’s Festival Big Family Weekend; The Art of Science: Baudin’s Voyagers 1800-1804 – SA Maritime Museum; Yidaki: Didjeridu and the Sound of Australia – SA Museum; Wonderwalls 2017 – Renewal SA
Best Work
• WINNER: Saul – Adelaide Festival
• FINALISTS: The Secret River – Adelaide Festival and State Theatre Company SA; Intimate Space – Restless Dance Theatre; 19 Weeks – Tiffany Lyndall Knight, Emily Steel, Daisy Brown and Mario Späte; Rumpelstiltskin – Windmill Theatre Co and State Theatre Company SA
Community or Regional Impact under $100,000:
• WINNER: Creating Coonalpyn – Coorong District Council
• FINALISTS: 2017 UneARTh Festival Whyalla – City of Whyalla and Adelaide Fringe; 2017 SALT Festival – Southern Eyre Arts Inc.; Losing Faith in Unicorns – Kids Against Humanity; Sista Girl – State Theatre Company South Australia
Community or Regional Impact over $100,000:
• WINNER: SALA Festival 2016
• FINALISTS: The Secret River – Adelaide Festival and State Theatre Company SA; Stirling Fringe – Bamboozled Productions
Arts Innovation and Enterprise:
• WINNER: Intimate Space – Restless Dance Theatre
• FINALISTS: Backbone – Gravity & Other Myths; Slingsby’s Market Development and Giving Circles – Slingsby Theatre; 19 Weeks – Tiffany Lyndall Knight, Emily Steel, Daisy Brown and Mario Späte
Sustained Contribution by an Organisation or Group:
• WINNER: Tutti Arts
• FINALISTS: Music SA; Vitalstatistix
Sustained Contribution by an Individual:
• WINNER: Margie Fischer
An arts producer, director, performer and playwright, Margie Fischer has worked tirelessly in South Australia’s arts and events sector for more than three decades. As co-founder and one-time Artistic Director of Vitalstatistix Theatre Company she was instrumental in progressing the work and recognition of women in the arts, and as co-founder and former Artistic Director of Feast, she has been a leading light of South Australia’s LGBT community.
Geoff Crowhurst Memorial Award:
• WINNER: Alysha Herrmann
Alysha Herrmann is a highly skilled arts worker specialising in youth arts practice and working with regional communities. As Creative Producer of Carclew and Onkaparinga Council’s ExpressWay Arts program, she nurtured young artistic and cultural leaders in Adelaide’s southern suburbs, producing art that pushes for social change. Now as Creative Producer - Youth with Carclew and Country Arts SA she focuses on creating outcomes for young people in regional communities.
People’s Choice Award:
• WINNER: 2017 UneARTh Festival Whyalla – City of Whyalla and Adelaide Fringe
Attracting 1,700 votes - 11 per cent up on last year - the second People's Choice Award was hotly contested, with results coming right down to the wire as the online polls closed on December 1. But in the end the winner was clear, with the coveted award going to the 2017 UneARTh Festival - Whyalla. Staged by the City of Whyalla and Adelaide Fringe, the inaugural festival attracted crowds of more than 10,000 to Whyalla over the Easter long weekend for a packed program of theatre, music and dance.
Premier’s Award for Lifetime Achievement:
• WINNER: Ian Scobie AM
A leading light of South Australia’s arts scene for more than 30 years, Ian Scobie AM has been a key influence in not only bringing extraordinary artists, companies and events to Australia, but also in creating pathways for Australian work internationally. Perhaps his most significant contribution has been the development of WOMADelaide, the largest world music festival in the southern hemisphere, which he helped establish in 1992 and now directs.
2016
Best Event
WINNER: TARNANTHI: Festival of Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art, Art Gallery of South Australia
FINALISTS
The Petrushka Project, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra
Adelaide Film Festival 2015
Adelaide Fringe Parade, Adelaide Fringe
Best Work
WINNER: Girl Asleep, A Windmill Theatre Co and Soft Tread Enterprises’ film.
Commissioned by Adelaide Film Festival’s HIVE Fund with support from the South Australian Film Corporation.
FINALISTS
The Aspirations of Daise Morrow, Brink Productions
Cloudstreet, State Opera of South Australia
Community or Regional Impact under $100,000
WINNER: Desert Fringe, Adelaide Fringe
FINALISTS
Guildhouse Traditional Craft Skills Workshops, Guildhouse
A Kid Like Me, True North Youth Theatre Ensemble
Responding to Racism, ActNow Theatre
Community or Regional Impact over $100,000
WINNER (no shortlist): Gorgon: State Educational Regional Tour 2016, State Theatre Company South Australia
Arts Innovation & Enterprise
WINNER : Girl Asleep, A Windmill Theatre Co and Soft Tread Enterprises’ film.
Commissioned by Adelaide Film Festival’s HIVE Fund with support from the South Australian Film Corporation
FINALISTS
The Young King, Slingsby
Things I Know To Be True, State Theatre Company of South Australia
Exquisite Corpse, Zephyr Quartet
Sustained Contribution by an Organisation or Group
WINNER: Adelaide Symphony Orchestra
FINALISTS
Guildhouse
Vitalstatistix
Adelaide Fringe Festival
Inaugural People’s Choice Award
WINNER: A Kid Like Me – True North Youth Theatre Ensemble
Sustained Contribution by an Individual
WINNER: Sally Chance
Geoff Crowhurst Memorial Award
WINNER: Lee-Ann Buckskin
Premier’s Award for Lifetime Achievement
WINNERS (Jointly awarded): Rob Brookman and Ulrike Klein
2015
Best Event
WINNER: SALA Festival 2014
Best Work
WINNER: The Philip Glass Trilogy, State Opera of South Australia
Community or Regional Impact under $100,000
WINNER: Barngarla Stories of Resilience, Nexus Arts
Community or Regional Impact over $100,000
WINNER: Adelaide Writers' Week, Adelaide Festival
Innovation
WINNER: Music for Strings and iThings, Zephyr Quartet
Arts Enterprise
WINNER: Fifth Quarter, Carclew's business incubator
Sustained Contribution by an Organisation or Group
WINNER: Australian Dance Theatre
Sustained Contribution by an Individual
WINNER: Grant Hancock
Geoff Crowhurst Memorial Award
WINNER: Edwin Kemp Attrill
Premier’s Award for Lifetime Achievement
WINNER: Yvonne Koolmatrie
2014
Best Event
WINNERS (jointly awarded): Dark Heart: 2014 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art, Art Gallery of South Australia
Adelaide Film Festival/Adelaide Festival of Ideas
Best Work
WINNER: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander War Memorial, Memorial artists Lee-Ann Buckskin, Tony Rosella and Michelle Nikou, sculptor Robert Hannaford and bronze caster Tim Thomson
Community or Regional Impact under $100,000
WINNER: Sons & Mothers, No String Attached Theatre of Disability, written and directed by Alirio Zavarce
Community or Regional Impact over $100,000
WINNER: Pom Pom: Children's Contemporary Art Space, Carclew and Playford Communities for Children Plus
Innovation
WINNER: ADHOCRACY, Vitalstatistix
Arts Enterprise
WINNER: Bowerbird - Adelaide's Design Market
Sustained Contribution by an Organisation or Group
WINNER: Helpmann Academy for the Visual and Performing Arts
Sustained Contribution by an Individual
WINNER: Shane McNeil
Geoff Crowhurst Memorial Award
WINNER: Bob Daly and Kalyna Micenko
Premier’s Award for Lifetime Achievement
WINNER: Robert Hannaford
2013
Best Event
WINNER: Turner from the tate: The Making of a Master, Art Gallery of South Australia
Best Work
WINNER: Pinocchio, Windmill Theatre and State Theatre Company South Australia
Community or Regional Impact under $100,000
WINNER: Auburn Courthouse Cultural Centre, HATS Inc (Heritage, Arts and Traditions)
Community or Regional Impact over $100,000
WINNER: Just Add Water: 2012 Regional Centre of Culture, Country Arts SA and Alexandrina Council
Innovation
WINNER: If There Was a Colour Darker Than Black I'd Wear It, Rising Damp, Illuminart and Country Arts SA
Arts Enterprise
WINNER: Illuminart Productions Pty Ltd
Sustained Contribution by an Organisation or Group
WINNER: Adelaide Cabaret Festival
Sustained Contribution by an Individual
WINNER: Geoff Cobham
Geoff Crowhurst Memorial Award
WINNER: Ollie Black
Premier’s Award for Lifetime Achievement
WINNER: Milton Moon
2012
Best Event
WINNER: Barrio, Adelaide Festival
Best Work
WINNER: School Dance, Windmill Theatre
Community or Regional Impact under $100,000
WINNER: About Time: South Australia's History Festival, History SA
Community or Regional Impact over $100,000
WINNER: The Spirit Festival, Tandanya
Innovation
WINNER: I Am Not an Animal, The Border Project
Arts Enterprise
WINNER: Tuxedo Cat Theatre, Cassandra Tombs and Bryan Lynagh
Sustained Contribution by an Organisation or Group
WINNER: Carclew Youth Arts
Sustained Contribution by an Individual
WINNER: Garry Stewart
Geoff Crowhurst Memorial Award
WINNER: Cath Cantlon
Premier’s Award for Lifetime Achievement
WINNER: Robyn Archer
2011
Best Event
WINNER: The Adelaide International Cello Festival 2011
Best Work
WINNER: Life in Movement, Closer Productions
Community or Regional Impact under $100,000
WINNER: Out Blak Adventures
Community or Regional Impact over $100,000
WINNER: COME OUT Festival 2011 Opening Parade
Innovation
WINNER: CACSA Contemporary 2010: The New New
Arts Enterprise
WINNER: Gray Street Workshop
Sustained Contribution by an Organisation or Group
WINNER: Adelaide Chamber Singers
Sustained Contribution by an Individual
WINNER: Stephen Phillips
Geoff Crowhurst Memorial Award
WINNER: Pat Rix
Premier’s Award for Lifetime Achievement
WINNER: Michael Morley
2010
Best Event
WINNER: Soundstream: Adelaide New Music Festival 2009
Best Work
WINNER: Man Covets Bird, Slingsby
Community or Regional Impact under $100,000
WINNER: Out of the Glass Case: The APY Lands Road Show
Community or Regional Impact over $100,000
WINNER: Windmill Theatre and Mimili Anangu Partnership
Innovation
WINNER: The Mystery of Flying Kicks, Closer Productions
Arts Enterprise
WINNER: Format Festival 2010
Sustained Contribution by an Organisation
WINNER: Restless Dance Theatre
Sustained Contribution by an Individual
WINNER: Mary Moore
Inaugural Geoff Crowhurst Memorial Award
WINNER: Margie Fischer
Premier’s Award for Lifetime Achievement
WINNER: Marjorie Fitz-Gerald OAM
2009
Best Work or Event
WINNER: 2008 OzAsia Festival
Community or Regional Impact under $100,000
WINNER: Seniors on Screen, Media Resource Centre
Community or Regional Impact over $100,000
WINNER: Port Augusta Re-Imagines
Innovation
WINNER: 3xperimentia: Live Cut
Leadership in Arts Enterprise
WINNER: The Tragical Life of Cheeseboy 2009 World Tour, Slingsby
Sustained Contribution by an Organisation or Group
WINNER: Patch Theatre Company
Sustained Contribution by an Individual
WINNER: Jane Hylton
Premier’s Award for Lifetime Achievement
WINNER: Fiona Hall
2008
Best Work or Event
WINNER: When the Rain Stops Falling, Brink Productions
Community Impact under $100,000
WINNER: OzAsia Moon Lantern Festival
Community Impact over $100,000
WINNER: 2007 Feast Feastival
Innovation
WINNER: Trouble on Planet Earth, The Border Project
Leadership in Arts Enterprise
WINNER: Adelaide Festival Centre - Scenery and Engineering Workshops
Sustained Contribution by an Organisation
WINNER: Adelaide Repertory Theatre
Sustained Contribution by an Individual
WINNER: Timothy Sexton
Premier’s Award for Lifetime Achievement
WINNER: Kym Bonython AO DFC AFC
2007
Best Work or Event
WINNER: Ikara - The Meeting Place, Tony Rosella, sculptor
Community Impact under $100,000
WINNER: South Australian History Week
Community Impact over $100,000
WINNER: Bundaleer Forest Weekend
Innovation
WINNER: Electro Acoustic Project, Zephyr Quartet
Leadership in Arts Enterprise
WINNER: Fringe Benefits
Sustained Contribution by an Organisation
WINNER: State Theatre Company South Australia
Sustained Contribution by an Individual
WINNER: Leigh Warren
Premier’s Award for Lifetime Achievement
WINNER: Anthony Steel AM
2006
Best Work or Event
WINNER: Honk If You Are Jesus, State Theatre Company South Australia
Community Impact
WINNER: SALA Festival
Innovation
WINNER: Devolution, Australian Dance Theatre
Leadership in Arts Enterprise
WINNER: Special projects under development, Craig Andrae
Sustained Contribution by an Organisation
WINNER: JamFactory Craft and Design
Premier’s Award for Lifetime Achievement
WINNER: Frank Ford AM