The South Australian Ruby Awards, also known as the Ruby Awards, are annual awards which recognise outstanding achievement in South Australia’s arts and culture sector. They were named in honour of arts champion Dame Ruby Litchfield (1912–2001) .

History and description

The Ruby Awards were introduced in 2006 by the

Government of South Australia The Government of South Australia, also referred to as the South Australian Government, SA Government or more formally, His Majesty’s Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of South Australia. It is modelled o ...

, named in honour of the late arts patron Dame Ruby Litchfield. She was the first woman appointed to the Board of the

Adelaide Festival Centre Trust Adelaide Festival Centre, Australia's first multi-purpose arts centre and the home of South Australia's performing arts, was built in the 1970s, designed by Hassell Architects. The Festival Theatre opened in June 1973 with the rest of the centr ...

, a founder member of Festival City Broadcasters, and a board member of numerous other organisations, including the

Adelaide Festival of Arts The Adelaide Festival of Arts, also known as the Adelaide Festival, an arts festival, takes place in the South Australian capital of Adelaide in March each year. Started in 1960, it is a major celebration of the arts and a significant cultural ...

, the South Australian Housing Trust and the Carclew Youth Performing Arts Centre. The Awards were managed by Arts South Australia (formerly Arts SA) until 2018, when they were transferred to the Arts and Culture unit within the Department of the Premier and Cabinet. Since the year of inception, they have grown in number from eight to twelve.

Winners

2006–2009

2010–2013

The Geoff Crowhurst Memorial Award was introduced in honour of actor and director

Geoff Crowhurst The Junction Theatre Company was South Australia’s first professional community theatre company, founded in 1984. It was located in the Adelaide suburb of Thebarton, until its closure in 2002. Its touring productions were performed in schools, ...

(23 March 1951 – 4 July 2009).

2014–2017

2018–present

The 2018 South Australian Ruby Award significantly reshaped the award categories, including individual categories names in honour of the late Kaurna elder Stephen Goldsmith (the Stevie Gadlabarti Goldsmith Memorial Award for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artistic and cultural achievement) and local arts icon Frank Ford (the Frank Ford Memorial Young Achiever Award), both of whom who died in the same year. The Awards were held at the

Queen's Theatre, Adelaide The Queen's Theatre is a building of historic importance in Playhouse Lane, Adelaide, South Australia. It is the oldest intact theatre in mainland Australia, having originally been built in 1840, the only earlier one in Australia being the still- ...

and the judging panel included eight key industry figures, including

Heather Croall Heather Croall (born 1967) is an international arts festival CEO and Artistic Director and documentary producer, best known for leading Sheffield Doc/Fest and Adelaide Fringe, and her work on live music / archive films including The Big Melt, ...

Gavin Wanganeen Gavin Adrian Wanganeen (born 18 June 1973) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club and Port Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL), and also for the Port Adelaide Magpies in ...

and media personality Jane Doyle. The 2019 Ruby Awards will be held at Queens Theatre on Friday 29 November. All winners receive a bespoke, ruby-coloured glasswork designed and made at the JamFactory, and a new prize for Premier's Award for Lifetime Achievement was established: a gold nameplate on a seat in the Festival Theatre. The People's Choice Award established in 2017 was not offered.

References

External links

*{{cite web, website=South Australia. Dept of the Premier and Cabinet, url=https://dpc.sa.gov.au/responsibilities/arts-and-culture/awards-and-events, title=Awards and events Australian art awards Australian theatre awards