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Academy of the Arts

Where creativity and collaboration respond to country and community

About the Academy of the Arts 

CDU’s Academy of the Arts focuses on contemporary Australian arts across creative, visual, performing and screen arts disciplines. This arts academy has a uniquely creative and educational offering inspired by the amazing country and rich culture of the Northern Territory of Australia and informed by and celebrating First Nations artists and their creative practices. 

We draw on creative methodologies that are thousands of years old - tactile, embodied, sensory - as well as techniques that are future-focused and technology-based. 

Join us to develop your creative practice through our campuses in Darwin and Alice Springs, studying online or in person. 

Research

The Academy of the Arts promotes and advances research in the creative arts through innovative programs and projects that build on the values of CDU.

Courses

Be creatively inspired by the unique country and rich culture of the Northern Territory. Study creative and performing arts with CDU’s Academy of the Arts.

Engagement

The Academy of the Arts is open to engaging with the community, the creative industries and academic partners.

People

Meet the people who are shaping a unique Academy of the Arts at CDU. Find a profile to get in touch with a teacher or researcher.

Strategic direction

We aim to become a world-leading contemporary Academy of the Arts, built on First Nations engagement.

Welcome from the Director  

Dr Amanda Morris has been appointed to the role of Director of the Charles Darwin University’s (CDU) Academy of the Arts to shape the Academy and engage with the NT’s creative sector.

Welcome to everyone interested in studying, teaching, researching, appreciating or supporting the arts in Australia. 

At CDU’s Academy of the Arts, we’re ready to support the next generation of creative practitioners and leaders. We deliver programs online and in person. We invite students from across the Northern Territory, Australia and the world to join us to develop their creativity inspired by the unique landscape and rich and diverse cultural environment of the Northern Territory of Australia.

Join us to engage in art-making and design, storytelling and creative writing, production for stage and screen, song and music-making. Develop digital, creative and collaborative skills to manage your own creative practice or to take a lead in community arts and festival programming, cultural centres, theatre venues and art galleries and the screen and digital entertainment sectors.

You’ll learn from our expert lecturers and guest artists to develop your own artistic practice in our studios and venues with opportunities to present your work to the public through our art galleries and theatre as well as online platforms. We also offer invaluable learning through field trips to engage with local festivals, the creative industries and on-country immersive arts experiences.

Check out the news and events for our current activities. We hope to welcome you to CDU’s Academy of the Arts soon.

Flexible study options

We offer flexible ways for students to engage in high-quality education and training in the arts. 

Choose from online, in-person or in a hybrid mode where you attend in-person classes with support from online learning materials, either full-time or part-time. There are opportunities to study across a semester or in an intensive mode. 

Basket weaving - arts immersion program

 

 

Screen arts

The arts – a lifelong study 

We can help you find a pathway into a creative career from any experience level and stage of life.  

Our educational programs range across: 

  • youth and community programs 

  • short courses offered with digital badges 

  • vocational training at the certificate level 

  • degree-level studies in the Bachelor of Arts 

  • Higher Degree by Research (HDR) offerings at PhD and Master’s levels. 

Maintain your skills, test creative ideas and develop new approaches in a supportive yet challenging community of practice at the Academy of the Arts. 

Get in touch with the Academy of the Arts

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