The finalists for the inaugural Creative Brisbane Awards 2026 have been announced, recognising the partnerships and collaborations shaping the city’s cultural identity.
Brisbane’s creative economy is having a moment, and the finalists for the inaugural Creative Brisbane Awards 2026 show exactly why. Announced by the Creative Brisbane Collab., the awards recognise the partnerships and collaborations that are turning bold ideas into real cultural impact across the city.
The finalist list spans nine categories and covers a remarkable breadth of work. A First Nations-led program engaging more than 8,800 attendees across 81 events. A youth initiative supporting 35 emerging artists to deliver 17 performances. A community-driven public artwork that raised more than $60,000 in local funding. Several projects appear across multiple categories, a reflection of how far their impact has reached across creative, cultural, and industry sectors.
Among the most prominent is Charcoal Stories, a large-scale public artwork collaboration involving Vernon Ah Kee and a wide network of partners including Chrysalis Projects, Avid Reader Bookshop, All City Walls, POPSART, Iscariot Media, Resene Paints, Gadens Lawyers, UAP, and others. The project has been recognised as a finalist across three categories including Best Urban or Public Art/Activity Collaboration, Best News and/or Social Media and Creative Collaboration, and Best First Nations and Industry Collaboration.
UAP, Urban Art Projects, features across multiple categories as well, including alongside Griffith University for Artwork Ingredient List, which is a finalist in both Most Innovative Collaboration and Best Strategic Collaboration, and with QAGOMA and artists Tony Albert and Nell for The Big Hose in Best Urban or Public Art/Activity Collaboration.
In the philanthropic space, BCM Group’s collaboration with LIVIN on The Inter[net]vention, a digital suicide prevention campaign, has been recognised in both Best Philanthropic or Fundraising Collaboration and Best News and/or Social Media and Creative Collaboration. The campaign also drew support from Yahoo, Newscorp, Google, NZME, IAS, and DoubleVerify, alongside UnLtd and Wavemaker.
The Best First Nations and Industry Collaboration category includes the Goolwal Goolwal program from BIGSOUND, QMusic, Virgin Australia, Amazon Music, Bad Apples Music, Mantle Group, and a wide network of First Nations organisations and artists including Kearna and Bianca Kemister, Awesome Black, Singing Our Futures, and Tin Camp Studios. The program is among the finalists generating the largest community reach in the awards.
In the disability and d/Deaf category, Bloom Cycle’s Corporate Recognition Reimagined project stands out for its breadth of partners, bringing together ANZ, Government House Queensland, Queensland Police Service, Brisbane Powerhouse, The University of Queensland, Queensland Health, and others in a disability-led circular collaboration across Brisbane.
The Best Collaboration with Creative Youth category recognises Backbone Youth Arts for its Hub Residency and Backbone Festival, Deaf Connect for Catch, a youth edition of Auslan90, and Essential Screen Skills alongside Screen Queensland, Kolperi Outback Filmmaking, and Screen Well for a film intensive bringing young creatives from script to screen.
Winners across all nine categories will be announced at the inaugural Creative Brisbane Awards event at Brisbane City Hall on Tuesday 28 April. The evening will also include the presentation of the City of Brisbane Award for Outstanding Creative Contribution, honouring an individual or organisation whose impact on the city’s creative sector has been extraordinary. The recipient will be selected by the Creative Brisbane Collab. Board of Directors from nominations put forward by Collab. members.
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