Toronto, May 5, 2021 – Toronto-based costume designer Ming Wong is the 2021 recipient of the $25,000 Virginia and Myrtle Cooper Award in Costume Design. The award is given annually to a professional costume designer in Ontario in mid-career to further enrich their career.
About Ming Wong
Ming is a Toronto costume designer and has worked on a variety of projects in theatre, dance, opera, and film & television. She is a graduate of the Integrated Media program at the Ontario College of Art & Design, is an Evie Award nominee, and a 5-time Dora Mavor Moore nominee. Ming came into costume design by accident and has been lucky enough to make this happy accident her passion and livelihood for over 15 years.
Selected credits: Hansel und Gretel (Canadian Opera Company); Julius Caesar (Groundling Theatre/Crow’s); The Color Purple (Citadel Theatre/Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre); Every Day She Rose (Nightwood Theatre); Beautiful Man (Factory Theatre); The Cherry Orchard (Modern Times Stage Company); Unsafe (Canadian Stage); Gertrude & Alice (Buddies in Bad Times Theatre); Out The Window (Luminato); Girls Like That (Tarragon Theatre); Life After (Musical Stage Company); The Wedding Party (Crow’s Theatre); hang (Obsidian Theatre); Rocking Horse Winner (Tapestry Opera). Film & television credits include: Breaking Down (Iskwē, music video); Supers (Good Film & TV, short film); Scales (Fruitful Productions, short film).
Jury
Ming Wong was selected by a jury comprising Alan Dilworth, Artistic Director, Necessary Angel Theatre Company (Toronto), Rachel Forbes, emerging costume designer (Toronto), and Camellia Koo, 2016 Cooper laureate, established costume designer (Toronto).
The jury was unanimous in their choice of Ming Wong as the 2021 laureate, stating, “Ming’s designs are bold, innovative and inspiring. The collaborative process is at the centre of her work in design. Ming’s artistic voice is focused and committed, helping to create characters with depth and authenticity.”
About the Award
Established through a generous gift under the will of Dr. Virginia Cooper, the Virginia and Myrtle Cooper Award is to be given “For the Love of Creation”. Dr. Cooper served as a director of the Tarragon Theatre, and was a charter member of the Arts and Letters Club of Toronto and active in its activities. She had a keen interest in the performing arts, particularly in costume design.
The Ontario Arts Foundation manages the endowment that funds the award, and the Ontario Arts Council manages the nomination and adjudication process.
Previous award winners include: Sean Mulcahy (2020), Joanna Yu (2019) and Gillian Gallow (2018). See the full list of previous recipients here.
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For more information, please contact:
Alan Walker, Executive Director, Ontario Arts Foundation
416-969-7413 | awalker@oafdn.ca
Established in 1991, the Ontario Arts Foundation (OAF) is passionately committed to building long-term support for the arts in Ontario. In 2019-2020, the OAF paid out over $4.25 million in endowment income and $270,000 in awards and scholarships.
For more than 55 years, the Ontario Arts Council has played a vital role in promoting and assisting the development of the arts and artists for the enjoyment and benefit of Ontarians. In 2019-2020, the Ontario Arts Council invested $51.9 million in 197 communities across Ontario through 1,965 grants to individual artists and 1,152 grants to organizations.
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