DDCA AWARDS

THE INAUGURAL DDCA AWARDS 2024

The Australian Council of the Deans and Directors of Creative Arts wishes to acknowledge contributions to creative arts in higher education across Australia. To support this, we are launching the inaugural DDCA Awards.

Submissions to the Awards are now closed. Winners will be announced October 2024.


DDCA 2024 AWARD WINNERS


DDCA AWARDS CATEGORIES AND ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA 

The DDCA Awards are comprised of the following five categories: 

1. Distinguished Australian First Nations Creative Leadership Award 

2. Distinguished Innovation in Creative Arts Award  

3. Distinguished Creative Teaching Award 

4. Distinguished Creative Researcher Award 

5. Distinctive Creative Arts Doctoral Student Award 

PRIZES 

Our judges will award AUD$1,000 for each winning entry (individual or group submission). In addition to prize money, DDCA Award winning recipients will be invited to attend our end of year Symposium (date/venue TBC), as well as an opportunity to join our one-to-one Mentorship Program. Read more: https://ddca.edu.au/mentoring/ 

WINNER ANNOUNCEMENTS
The winners will be announced at the end of October. Prize money will be issued to individuals/groups and recipients will be highlighted on our website.

JUDGES

Members of the DDCA Board, as well as industry experts, will be asked to evaluate and score submissions. See our current Board membership.

 

KEY DATES
EXTENDED DEADLINE: MONDAY 9TH SEPTEMBER 2024
Winners will be announced and notified by the end of October 2024.

 SUBMISSIONS ARE NOW CLOSED.

HOW TO APPLY

Applicants must first carefully review the DDCA Awards Categories and Criteria.

Complete the below Submission Form

Each university may only make a maximum of two submissions, across all categories. It is up to each institution to manage this process internally.  

Each entry should be completed on a separate Submission Form. 

Each submission must include the following:

  • Completed Submission Form
  • CV (1 page max.)
  • Statement addressing the criteria (2 page max.)
  • Samples of your work (maximum of 5)
  • Any additional submission requirements for your chosen Awards Category (outlined below)
 

All applications must be endorsed by your Head of School, Head of Academic Unit, Dean, Associate Dean, or similar. This will require:

  • A letter of recommendation (1 page max.)
  • A signed and dated Nominee’s Declaration in the Submission Form.
 

Once you have completed the Submission Form, and attained your signed endorsement, please email these to DDCA’s Executive Officer at: admin@ddca.edu.au | Subject Line: 2024 DDCA AWARDS SUBMISSION. 

We will accept the following formats in support of your submission:

  • text (Word, PDF)
  • graphic images (JPEG, PNG)
  • links to video or audio files  
 

Please direct any queries to DDCA’s Executive Officer at: admin@ddca.edu.au

 

 

2024 DDCA AWARDS CATEGORIES AND CRITERIA

The DDCA Awards criteria for each category is as follows:

  1. Distinguished Australian First Nations Creative Leadership Award  

For the DDCA Australian First Nations Creative Leadership Award application, the nominee can be at any stage in their career and is required to address any or all of the following criteria: 

CRITERIA

  • leadership in truth-telling;

  • growing culturally safe places for students; 

  • creating space for multi-generational storytelling;

  • sharing with diverse communities;

  • growing and celebrating First Nations practices and voices;

  • creating bridges between students, staff and communities;

  • celebrating and honouring Eldership;

ELIGIBILITY

  • All individual nominees must be Australian First Nations. Team nominations must have a First Nations group leader. 

 

  1. Distinguished Innovation in Creative Arts Award 

For the DDCA Distinguished Innovation in Creative Arts Award application, the nominee is required to address any or all of the following criteria: 

CRITERIA

  • innovation in approach, methodology, outcome, teaching, and/or building teams;

  • demonstrated cross-disciplinarity, unlocking new ways of undertaking practice;

  • developing partnerships with community, industry and academia;

  • creating holistic approaches to research, scholarship, teaching and engagement.

 

  1. Distinguished Creative Teaching Award

For the DDCA Distinguished CreativeTeaching Award application, the nominee is required to address any or all of the following award criteria: 

CRITERIA

  • knowledge sharing and building through making and doing in a learning and teaching context (in the lab, in the studio, in-field etc);

  • inspiring, modelling and mentoring new pathways toward professional creative arts fields;

  • enabling professional artist identity formation;

  • aligning practice with the profession and its communities;

  • developing approaches to students as partners.

 

ADDITIONAL SUBMISSION REQUIREMENT/S

  • student data responses, evidence of new course/program design and educational impact.

 
  1. Distinguished Creative Researcher Award

For the DDCA Distinguished Creative Researcher Award application, the nominee is required to address any or all of the following criteria: 

CRITERIA

  • the application should evidence outstanding achievement in research in the creative arts, demonstrated by relevant esteem factors. 

  • the application should comprise a major contribution to the field, for example transforming how we understand and/or undertake creative research.

     

 

ADDITIONAL SUBMISSION REQUIREMENT/S

  • if you are submitting a creative research output (NTRO) please include a research statement of max. 2,000 characters. (Character count is additional to your 2 page evidence statement.)

     

 
  1. Distinctive Creative Arts Doctoral Student Award 

For the DDCA Distinctive Creative Arts Doctoral Student Award application, the nominee is required to address any or all of the following criteria: 

CRITERIA

  • a significant contribution to the field of research/practice;

  • showcasing national-level research outcomes with international esteem potential;

  • taking on research leadership in the creative arts field, locally or nationally.

     


 
 
Image credit: Vanessa Tomlinson, Beacons, Bleach Festival 2022, site-specific sound work. Image courtesy of Greg Harm, Tangible Media.