Canberra-Queanbeyan designer and 3-D storyteller Caolán Mitchell has been awarded the Georgie Waterman Career Achievement Award for his impact and innovative approach to the unusual professional field of interpretation.

Mitchell, founder and creative director of design studio Thylacine, was praised by the judges from Interpretation Australia as “a transformative figure in Australian interpretation – an innovator, collaborator, and mentor.” 

They highlighted his work on major projects including the WA Museum Boola Bardip, Auckland War Memorial Museum and Melbourne Holocaust Museum, noting his commitment to cultural integrity, emotional resonance and community connection.

But when we caught up with him, it was the words story and storytelling that kept surfacing. 

“It is certainly humbling and huge to be receiving this prize after 25 years specialising in storytelling and design,” Mitchell told CityNews.

“We’ve told so many amazing stories, and there’s rarely time to pause and consider our contribution to the industry, so the messages from peers in the interpretation world makes it especially meaningful.”

The industry-nominated award is not monetary, he said, but it is considered one of the highest achievements in the field and is given only very occasionally. 

The Georgie Waterman Award, named after a budding young designer-interpreter whose life was cut short, was established in her name by her parents to recognise leadership in interpretation. 

It is hosted by Interpretation Australia, representing more than 400 members across Australia, NZ and beyond, whose vice-president Scott Killeen said: “Caolán has helped shape interpretive practice with storytelling at the heart of it, bringing others along. His peers recognise his significant contribution.”

Graduating from Sydney College of the Arts in 1993, Mitchell began his career as a sculptor and installation artist, later working at the Australian National Maritime Museum, Opera Australia and the Australian War Memorial. 

In 1999, he founded Thylacine, initially out of ANCA Studios in Mitchell, before moving to larger more commodious premises in Queanbeyan, with additional studios in Melbourne, all run in partnership with Alexandra Gillespie, a doctoral graduate in Photography and Media Arts, from the ANU.

Quick to emphasise the collaborative nature of his work, he added: “I am in no way the sole author of any project. I try to support a network of storytellers to find their unique direction.”

Over the years Mitchell and Thylacine have come up with imaginative, often cheeky designs that hook museum visitors in, whether through the meaning-laden paper swans floating in Lake Torrens, the real and replica aircraft at the Qantas Founders Museum in outback Queensland, the “selfie with a kelpie” at Casterton’s Australian Kelpie Centre, or real penguins at the Penguin Parade Visitor Centre on Phillip Island.

Closer to home, Thylacine has created the immersive Kellyland Glenrowan, which features featuring animatronics alongside original artefacts such as Ned Kelly’s death mask and police relics, many, many installations at the National Museum of Australia, including the portable exhibition From Little Things Big Things Grow, at Canberra Hospital the light-hearted Welcome Home Wall and a glimpse backward at the Centenary of Canberra Celebrations.

In short, as Killeen put it: “Caolán has redefined exhibition practice through story-led, inclusive design and technical ingenuity… shared ownership… His innovations include new ways to mount and display objects that better connect museum visitors to histories and environments.”