Toronto, July 11, 2023 – Ottawa based costume designer Vanessa Imeson is the 2023 winner 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 through research and travel.
About Vanessa Imeson
Vanessa Imeson
is an award-winning theatre artist and fabricator specializing in costumes, make-up, and props. She designs costumes, make-up, wigs, and puppets for a variety of collegiate programs and professional theatre companies across Canada. Vanessa is the Head of Wardrobe for the Great Canadian Theatre Company, and is also a core artist and resident designer with Ottawa’s A Company of Fools and Skeleton Key Theatre.
Vanessa holds a combined BA Honours degree in Dramatic Art and English from the University of Windsor, an MFA in Theatre Design from the University of British Columbia and diploma for Makeup Design for Film and Television from Vancouver Film School.
Assessment
Vanessa Imeson was selected by an assessment panel comprising of Isidra Cruz (Ottawa) costume designer, and arts administrator, and Anna Treusch (Toronto) costume designer, and 2022 Cooper Award laureate.
The assessors were unanimous in their choice of Vanessa as the 2023 Virginia and Myrtle Cooper Award in Costume Design. They said, “Vanessa’s designs are full of joyful energy. Her use of scale and palette are excellent. Her designs are cohesive on stage, and at the same time, you can see individual characters within the unity.”
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 Anna Treusch (2022), Ming Wong (2021), and Sean Mulcahy (2020). See the full list of previous recipients here.
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For information, please contact:
Bruce Bennett, Executive Director
Ontario Arts Foundation
Tel: (416) 969-7413 bbennett@oafdn.ca
Established in 1991, the Ontario Arts Foundation (OAF) is passionately committed to building long-term support for the arts in Ontario. In 2022-2032, the OAF paid $4 million in endowment income to arts organizations and $450,000 in grants and awards to artists and arts organizations.
For 60 years, the Ontario Arts Council (OAC) has played a vital role in promoting and assisting the development of the arts for the enjoyment and benefit of Ontarians. In 2021-2022, OAC invested $56.4 million in 237 communities across Ontario through 2,665 grants to individual artists and 1,050 grants to organizations.
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