artsHub Awards 2011

artsHub Awards winners an eclectic group

artsHub today announced the winners of the inaugural artsHub Awards.

In July of this year the artsHub Awards were launched with the intention of recognising those who create and support work that is exciting, engaging, challenging or simply excellent.

The Critic’s Choice Awards were judged by an independent panel from within the broader arts community. The winners are:

For Innovation in the arts by an individual or group:

The Cup Project (Melbourne)

The Cup project published the work of emerging Australian artists on take-away coffee cups in Melbourne, from February 2011.

For Achievement in the arts by an individual or group:

The Book of Everything (Sydney)

The Book of Everything is a co-production between Theatre of Image and Belvoir, adapted from Guus Kuijer’s award-winning novel by Richard Tulloch.

For Contribution to the Australian arts scene by an individual, organisation or business:

The Garden of Unearthly Delights (Adelaide)

Over the past eleven years, The Garden of Unearthly Delights has established itself as one of the most innovative and dynamic festival precincts in Australia.

artsHub Editor-in-Chief Rita Dimasi had this to say before the announcement:

"The artsHub Awards have received an enormous response from leading arts organisations across the country, and the critics’ choice winners epitomise the diversity that we hoped these awards would recognise. The artsHub Awards celebrate not only commercial success but also the vision, commitment and pure hard work it takes to create and nurture something new, ingenious and unforgettable".

The People’s Choice Awards were voted upon by artsHub readers as well as fans and supporters of the shortlisted nominees. Thousands of votes were received, with the following winners received the most votes in their respective categories:

For Innovation in the arts by an individual or group:

Phonetic Pillows (Sydney)

An innovative and interactive learning resource that assists students to physically explore speech sounds.

For Achievement in the arts by an individual or group:

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven Festival

Described as ’the musical event of a lifetime’, the MSO presented all nine Beethoven symphonies, over two unforgettable weeks.

For Contribution to the Australian arts scene by an individual, organisation or business:

Blak Side Story (Melbourne)

A multimedia exhibition exploring contemporary Aboriginal identity and stories from Indigenous Communities from Melbourne’s West.

The artsHub team, led by CEO Andrew Murray, wishes to congratulate all winners.

"The six winners represent such a broad spectrum of the Australian arts scene" says Murray, "from festivals to theatre in education, children’s theatre, classical music and visual arts. We look forward to bringing all of this varied and wonderful work to the attention of our audience over the coming weeks and months. Congratulations to all the winners and shortlisted nominees and thankyou to the judges and our audience for their participation".

For further information about the artsHub awards contact awards@artshub.com.au