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“Collaboration is all. I come from a background of dance and visual art and in my work with designers, my desire is to ignite the fire of confluent imaginations. Out of that union must come the space for the ultimate alchemy – the actors’ process. I’m there to safeguard story, yes, but beyond that, to help the artists, and therefore myself, defeat the limitations of fear. – GINA WILKINSON |
If you have any questions about Gina's Prize or the submission process, committee co-leaders, Micheline Chevrier and Kimberley Rampersad would be pleased to connect with you at [email protected]
2026 Recipient - Debbie Patterson
Photography Credit: Pascal Lamothe-Kipnes
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Winnipeg, Manitoba, in Treaty One Territory
"I’m so grateful to be recognized in this way and am humbled to join the powerhouse women who have shared this honour in the past and who are nominated alongside me now. I want to express gratitude to the members of the prize committee for the ongoing work you do to keep Gina’s legacy alive by spotlighting the groundbreaking work of women in our community. I also want to extend a huge thank you to my nominator, the relentlessly positive Mandy MacLean. As Mandy’s mentor, I can affirm that a mentee/mentor relationship is a place where teaching travels in both directions. I never had the pleasure of working with Gina, but admired her from afar for many years, inspired by her sass and drive, her sophistication and generosity. I’m grateful to her and to all the women who have had my back, kicked my ass and lifted me up; challenging me to dig deeper, reach higher and never stop growing. There’s no such thing as individual achievement. We all succeed or fail based on the strength of our connections to each other." Debbie Patterson is a Winnipeg-based actor, playwright, director, dramaturge and mother. She is a proud advocate for disability justice through her work as founding and current Artistic Director of Sick + Twisted Theatre. She is a founder of Shakespeare in the Ruins, served as Artistic Associate at Prairie Theatre Exchange, Writer-in-Residence at University of Winnipeg and was a member of the 2023 Acting Company at the Stratford Festival. She is passionate about supporting other disabled theatre makers and bringing the lived experience of disability into mainstream theatre spaces. She is on the board of Playwrights Guild of Canada, the National Creation Fund Advisory Committee, and on Professional Advisory Committees at Sheridan University and at TMU. She is a recipient of the King Charles III’s Coronation Medal, the United Nations Platform for Action Committees Activist of the Year Award and the City of Winnipeg’s Making a Mark Award. She lives a wheelchair-enabled life in Winnipeg (Treaty 1) and in a cabin on the shore of Lake Winnipeg (Treaty 2) with her longtime partner Arne MacPherson. |
2026 Finalists
Photography by Noncedo Charmaine
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Dr. d'bi.young anitafrika
Scarborough WHAT GINA'S PRIZE MEANS TO ME
in honour of gina wilkinson and womyn storytellers of these unceded territories womxn storyteller I enc(h)ant your name so it resonates through ourstory there will be no erasure here you and the change you carve out with your words, your hands, your heart will be sung through the freedom whispers and shouts of your kin for seven generations and beyond audre lorde reminds us that we were never meant to survive yet here we are creating a new world beyond surviving, we are surthriving from the ashes of the old as the heavy-footed trample and bomb y/our children neither you nor your kin will be silenced no amount of bombs and bullets and supremacy will erase you tell your stories womxn tell stories of freedom into the veins of uncharted blood tell stories of emancipation into the caverns of colonised minds tell stories of liberation where hate-mongering occupies the territories of the indigenous womxn storyteller you will not be forgotten or washed out of your beinghood your indignation and your revolution tell your stories so that we may live with our lives Dr. d’bi.young anitafrika is an internationally celebrated dub poet, biomythicist, theatre-
maker, and decolonial pedagogue whose work spans performance, scholarship, and arts leadership across four continents. Laureate of the 2025 Johanna Metcalf Performing Arts Prize, they have shaped contemporary theatre and performance training globally through their pioneering methodology, the Anitafrika Dub Praxis. Dr. anitafrika has authored twelve plays, released seven dub poetry albums, published four poetry collections, and headlined festivals and theatre seasons worldwide. Their contributions have been recognised with numerous honours, including three Dora Awards, the Canadian Poet of Honour Award, a Siminovitch Playwrights Prize Finalist, and a Global Leader in Theatre and Performance distinction from Arts Council England. Their PhD theorises Black womyn’s theatre-making and addresses critical research gaps in Canadian performance scholarship. |
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Carmen Aguirre
Vancouver, on the traditional, ancestral, unceded territories of the Coast Salish Peoples "Gina’s commitment to collaboration and safeguarding story by confronting the limitations of fear confirms and inspires my own approach to the work. As a theatre practitioner who rides the balance between service to others and my own artistic vision, who believes that if you’re not afraid you’re not digging deep enough and that the truest art is a form of listening, and who endeavours to bring integrity to all I do in this industry, I am humbled and honoured to be in the company of these respected colleagues. I knew Gina. She was a mentor to me in the way she moved through the world. Being a finalist for The Gina Wilkinson Prize means grace and dignity to me. Because in the end, that’s all we have." Carmen Aguirre is a multiple award-winning theatre artist, actor, and author. She is an Electric Company Theatre Core Artist and has written and co-written over twenty-five plays and two international bestselling memoirs. The 2025 premiere of her play Fire Never Dies: The Tina Modotti Project, which she also directed, had a sold-out run and outstanding audience and theatre reviews. The Consent Club, an adaptation of Moliere’s The Learned Ladies and a brutal satire on the gentrification of the Me Too movement, will premiere in Vancouver in 2028. Carmen is currently directing the premiere of Kenneth T. Williams’ Deserters at the University of Alberta and will be directing exciting projects across Canada in the upcoming season. She is a graduate of Studio 58. carmenaguirre.ca |
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Judy Wensel Treaty 4 / Regina, Saskatchewan "I am deeply grateful to be recognized among the Gina’s Prize community of trailblazing artists. I am filled with awe and inspired beyond measure. I share this honour with the artists and collaborators who tend to the same artistic soil I do here in Treaty 4. A reminder that staying rooted does not mean staying small, that our work is not peripheral or isolated, but part of a wider, living dialogue about what a life in art can be. I never met Gina, but as my nominator Jennifer Brewin shared, “Gina understood that food, children, and the fullness of life are not distractions from artmaking but essential to it.” This is the ethos I strive to carry forward: creating spaces where people feel nourished and welcomed, free to bring their whole selves… the mess, the mischief, and the wild, vital parts that make us all fully human." Judy Wensel is a director, creator, performer, and teaching artist based in Treaty 4, working across professional, community, and educational contexts. A regular collaborator at Globe Theatre, she has contributed to over 30 projects as director, actor, dramaturg, and creator. She guest directs in the University of Regina’s devised theatre program and has also worked in residence with disability-led arts org, Listen to Dis’ and also That’s Possible, an integrated theatre program at Riffel High School in Regina. Her recent creation-based work explores the climate crisis through collaborative, interdisciplinary and intergenerational projects, including The Last Children (2022) created with David Gagnon Walker and The Council for All Children (2025) with Shaunna Dunn. She is a frequent collaborator of Strange Victory Performance (Toronto/Edmonton), FadaDance (Regina), Sum Theatre (Saskatoon) and Curtain Razors Theatre (Regina), where she has been an Artistic Associate since 2015. Judy is a graduate of the directing program at National Theatre School of Canada. |
Past Recipients
2025 - Keshia Palm; 2024 - Warona Setshwaelo; 2023 - Tanisha Taitt; 2022 - Fay Ness; 2021 - Yvette Nolan; 2020 - Jasmine Chen; 2019 - Anita La Selva; 2018 - Tanja Jacobs; 2017 Kimberley Rampersad; 2016 - Kelli Fox; 2015 - Valerie Planche; 2014 - Christine Brubaker; 2013 - Krista Jackson; 2012 - Ann-Marie Kerr
Click here to read how Gina's Prize has impacted the first ten recipients!
ELIGIBILITY
Theatre artists from underrepresented genders which includes cis women, trans women, and non-binary folks who have acquired foundational training (from a training program or through experience) and have worked for at least 5 years are eligible for Gina’s Prize. Artists must be based in and primarily practising in Canada, and be Canadian citizens or have permanent resident status, as defined by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada or as a self-identifying Indigenous artist.
THE PRIZE
Gina’s Prize is awarded annually, offering financial support to an inspirational theatre artist with a demonstrated body of work and who is recognized by their communities for their practice, leadership and dedication to their craft. Gina’s Prize shines a spotlight on an artist whose practice and leadership merits recognition at this stage of their evolution.
In an effort to support the broadest range of candidates, the Gina Prize committee has chosen not to impose a specific criteria outside the above expressed objectives. We believe in fostering a broad scope of artistic expression and in recognizing its impact on theatre practices and on the communities with and within whom the artist works.
A prize of $15,000 will be awarded to the 2026 recipient.
A prize of $5,000 will be awarded to each finalist artist.
Past nominated artists are encouraged to re-apply.
THE GINA WILKINSON PRIZE COMMITTEE
Nominations will be reviewed by the Gina Wilkinson Prize Committee: Micheline Chevrier, Krista Jackson, Ann-Marie Kerr, Lindsay Lachance, Kimberley Rampersad, Tom Rooney and Tanisha Taitt.
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GINA WILKINSON was a prolific actor/playwright and a stage director in constant demand. Her sudden passing was a great loss to her family, friends, and the theatre communities who cherished her joy, energy, and great lust for life. In memory of Gina’s talent and in celebration of her life, the Gina Wilkinson Prize was established in 2011. The prize fund has been built through the generous donations of many friends and colleagues from theatre communities across the country.
Gina’s profound impact as a mentor was recently celebrated on Michael Healey’s Podcast Just One More. Listen HERE.
A huge thank you to THE KINGFISHER FOUNDATION & DEBBIE GRAY and to all of our supporters who generously gave to the 10th Year Anniversary Fundraising Campaign! Our cherished donors are listed HERE. We are very grateful for two substantial gifts that were made to the the Gina’s Prize fund. The first was in 2014 by the beneficiaries of the ESTATE of ELSIE V. ADAMSON, a long-time friend and client of Martin Wilkinson, Gina Wilkinson’s brother. The second was in 2021/22 from THE KINGFISHER FOUNDATION.
Gina’s profound impact as a mentor was recently celebrated on Michael Healey’s Podcast Just One More. Listen HERE.
A huge thank you to THE KINGFISHER FOUNDATION & DEBBIE GRAY and to all of our supporters who generously gave to the 10th Year Anniversary Fundraising Campaign! Our cherished donors are listed HERE. We are very grateful for two substantial gifts that were made to the the Gina’s Prize fund. The first was in 2014 by the beneficiaries of the ESTATE of ELSIE V. ADAMSON, a long-time friend and client of Martin Wilkinson, Gina Wilkinson’s brother. The second was in 2021/22 from THE KINGFISHER FOUNDATION.
Gina’s Prize honours artists who work across Turtle Island on both treaty and unceded territories. Through this prize, we look to acknowledge and amplify their relationship to the land they live on and the communities they serve.
With special thanks to the support of the Kingsfisher Foundation
