Christine Karcza
The Christine Karcza Disability Leadership Award (Karcza Award) is a bi-annual award administered by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA) and is presented to an individual who identifies as d/Deaf, Mad or d/Disabled. The award recipient will receive a cash prize of $5,000.
The recipient will demonstrate leadership within the performing arts in one or more of the following areas:
- advancement of accessibility for d/Deaf or d/Disabled audiences
- advancement of opportunities for d/Deaf and d/Disabled artists or arts workers
- development of skills or mentorship of d/Deaf or d/Disabled artists or arts workers
- leadership of commitment and excellence of practice as a d/Deaf or d/Disabled artist
The Christine Karcza Disability Leadership laureate will select a leader of their choice who is an emerging d/Disabled or non-d/Disabled leader (in the areas listed above) to receive a cash prize of $2,500.
A disability activist and rigorous advocate of access in the arts, Christine Karcza worked tirelessly and passionately with leading cultural organizations, including the National Arts Centre, the Stratford Festival, the National Ballet, the Toronto Fringe Festival, the Royal Ontario Museum, Creative Users Projects and Mirvish Productions, building awareness of the many barriers that exclude disabled people everywhere.
The vision for her consulting company, I Can Do This, was for people with disabilities to be given the opportunity to be active cultural participants and leaders. As a mentor she inspired many to advocate for the same vision. Christine’s sudden death left ambitious and collaborative projects unfinished and many grappling with the loss of a leader and mentor.
Recipients - Click for Info (pending)
Samantha McCue
Pat Bradley
Monica Lee
Rebecca Burton
Idil Djafer
Karen Kaeja
Soheil Parsa
Andrea Vagianos
Danielle Parris
Dillon Orr
Deanna H. Choi
Monica Esteves
Beth Wong
Marvin Schlicting
Ksenia Ivanova
Sherrie Johnson
Jacquie P.A. Thomas
Peggy Baker
Sarah Conn
Sue Balint
David Fox *
Joanna Yu
Christopher Newton
Mitchell Marcus
Marjorie Chan
Jane Marsland
Jennifer Wonnacott
George Curtis Randolph
Nancy J. Webster
Andy McKim
Mumbi Tindyebwa
Sue Edworthy
Peggy Baker
fina macDonell
Karyn McCallum
David S. Craig
Meredith Potter
Diana Leblanc
Malcolm Black *
Franco Boni
Paul Templin
Ryan Wilson
Christopher House
Richard Rose
Ruth Howard
Leslie Lester
Ravi Jain
Michael Hollingsworth
David Ferry
Yvette Nolan
Ghislain Caron
Ben Chaisson
Philip Akin
R.H. Thomson
Natasha Parsons
Lokki Ma
Marlene Smith
Colin Mochrie
Leah Cherniak and Martha Ross
Naomi Campbell
Brendan Healy
John Van Burek
Fiona Reid
Iris Turcott
Jim LeFrancois
Michelle Ramsay
Layne Coleman
Karen Kain
Andy McKim
Lindsay Anne Black
ahdri zhina mandiela
Albert Schultz
ahdri zhina mandiela
Jennifer Tarver
Sky Gilbert
Martha Burns
Layne Coleman
Kimberly Purtell
Mallory Gilbert *
William Hutt
Alison Sealy-Smith
Alexandra Gilbert
Winston Morgan *
Eric Peterson
Winston Morgan
Kelly Thornton
Bill Glassco *
Maureen Forrester
Maja Ardal
Andjelija Djuric
Astrid Janson
Charmion King
Ken Gass
Derek Bruce
David Mirvish
Mervyn Blake
Jenny Phipps
Darren O’Donnell
Tomson Highway
Douglas Campbell
Urjo Kareda
Richard Ferren
Gerry Eldred *
John Neville
Mattea Goldstein
Ken Gass
Edward Roy
George Luscombe
Edward Roy
Murray Laufer *
Don Harron
Cecile Belec
Patricia Hamilton
Leslie Norgate
Paul Thompson
Daniel Brooks
June Faulkner *
Glenn Davidson
Barbara Chilcott *
Karen Rodd
Sandy Webster *
Leah Cherniak
Douglas Campbell
Kevin Lamotte
Grace Nakatsu
Jo Ann McIntyre
Mary Joliffe *
Adam Kolodziej
Robert Christie *
Fina Khan
Araby Lockhart
Sky Gilbert
Frances Hyland *
Debra Hanson
Jean Roberts *
Colleen Blake
Donald Davis *
William Lane
George Luscombe *
Murray Laufer
Herbert Whittaker *
Louis Appelbaum *
Isaac Thomas
Gerard Roxburgh
Colin Rivers
Mimi Mok
Kevin A. Ormsby
Chris Goddard
Sherrie Johnson
Natalie Sandassie
Annemieke Wade
Jonathan Heppner
Lucy Eveleigh
William Milne
Scott Dermody
Juliet Nakasujja
Beth Brown
Kelly Straughan
Michael Sinclair
Andrea Vagianos
Sedina Fiati
Theresa Gerrow
Anne-Marie Krytiuk
Victor Pokinko
Régine Cadet
Kendra Bator
Yuhala Muy Garcia
Gloria Mok
Kelly Read
Lindsay Fisher
Djennie Laguerre
Alex Bulmer
Marjorie Chan
Alexia Vassos
Michael Albano
Alaina Viau
Cole Alvis
Alexis Eastman
Roberto Mauro
Angela Xu
Robert Missen
Paula Wing
Franco Boni
Katherine Devlin
Karen Gilodo
Allen MacInnis
Sue Balint
Brandon Crone
Robyn Stevan
Jerry Smith
Makenzie Morgan
Kevin Matthew Wong
Ryan Cunningham
Jenny Ginder
Scott Christian
Erin Brubacher
Eric Peterson
Brad Cook
Martha Burns
Erika Morey
Joanna Yu
Robert Sauvey
Nadine Whiteman Roden
Lisa Marie DiLiberto
Jane Marsland
Deanne Kearney
Steven Bush
Azeem Nathoo
Julian Sleath
Anusree Roy
Courtenay Stevens
Brandon Moore
Yousef Kadoura
Derrick Chua
Pat Fraser
Pat Bradley
Ghislain Caron
Elizabeth Asselstine
Vinetta Strombergs
Mark Garner
Mitchell Marcus
Susan Wright
Himanshu Sitlani
Tom Diamond
Steve Beatty
Joe Borowiec
Daniel Fernandes
Richard Feren
Tenny Nigoghossian
Arkady Spivak
Justin Antheunis
Angela Sun
Ernie Schirru
Anna Theodosakis
Nick Tracey
Kanika Ambrose
Maja Ardal
Isabela Solis-Lozano
Jacoba Knaapen
Starr Domingue
Sochi Fried
Arlene Duncan
Jacoba Knaapen
Lena Polyvyannaya
Victoria Wang
Jasmine Au
Scott Dermody
Eilish Shin-Culhane
Nick Green
Rumi Jeraj
Amy Mushinski
Robyn Grant-Moran
Jason Aviss
Aaron Jan
Anand Rajaram
Maer Gronsdal
Chantal Forde
Theresa Gerrow
Keith Lam
Jackie Chau
Jacquie PA Thomas
Juan Sebastian Laverde
Vineet Vyas
Bageshree Vaze
Joni Henson
Heather Landon
BaKari Lindsay
Sehar Bhojani
Daniel Jelani Ellis
Esther Jun
Kit Simmons
Allie Wood
Gayle Matthews
Alana Bridgewater
Belinda Bale
Tania Senewiratne
Brian Sewell
Patty Jarvis
Michael Rubinoff
Jordan Campbell
Carrie Sager
Laura Cournoyea
Heather Young
Janet Gates
Jim Roe
John Harvey
John Karastamatis
Julie Tepperman
Michelle Yagi
Karen Luscombe
Kate Cornell
Olya Glotka
Ken Gass
Laura Paduch
Leonard McHardy
Owais Lightwala
Qasim Khan
Ravi Jain
Leighton Williams
Ricardo Gomez-Insausti
Samara Thompson
Tanisha Taitt
Yolanda Ferrato
Anthony Garoufalis-Auger
Denyse Karn
Shawn Kerwin
Lisa Lambert
Indrit Kasapi
Beth Wong
Colin Doyle
Stephanie Applin
Jessie Fraser
Elizabeth MacCallum
Jamie Robinson
Eligibility Criteria
Deadline for nominations: Monday, April 24, 2023 – 5:00pm. Late submissions will not be accepted.
Individuals eligible for the Karcza Award must identify as a person who is d/Disabled, a person with a disability, or a d/Deaf person. Applicants do not need to earn a living income. Applicants must be a resident of Ontario.
- A person with a d/Disability/disabled person is defined as a person who experiences barriers to participation due to inaccessible or exclusionary designs, systems, attitudes, physical environments, and identifies as blind, neurodivergent, Mad, chronically ill, or with a physical disability.
- A d/Deaf person is defined as a person who is d/Deaf or hard of hearing.
- The deceased are not eligible.
In order to nominate an individual for the Karcza Award, please supply the following information:
- Nominator’s Name, Title, Company (if applicable), Phone and Email Address (*can self-nominate*)
- Nominee’s Name, Phone/Email
- Nominee’s Bio
- Headshot or Photograph of the Nominee (if possible)
- Cover Letter (Why you feel that the nominee should be awarded the Karcza Award, up to 2 pages)
- Letters of support and/or testimonials for the nominee (up to 5 pages)
- All applications must be submitted in English or ASL
- Accessibility accommodations are available on request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process. (ie. video/audio submissions) Contact Dora Awards Manager Scott Dermody at scottd@tapa.ca or 416.536.6468 x 30.