The Ross Leslie Award

Ross Leslie was a true lover of the arts and of Newfoundland. He first came to the province as the Production Manager for Republic of Doyle in 2010 and fell in love with everything we have to offer. Nature inside the city, excellent restaurants, and the vibrant arts community made for an excellent quality of life for him when he was here for work. In his time here, he was an avid theatre-goer and supporter, a passionate art collector and champion of films, album launches, comedy nights, books, and so much more. He did all this with joy, generosity, and ease. Ross was an inspiration. His love of this community made us all appreciate it more, too. He was a foundation of this arts community, and we still feel the impact he left after his eight years here.

The Ross Leslie Award honours his contributions. The award is meant to recognize those behind the scenes: a production professional (like designers, technicians, stage managers, crew, editors, producers, cinematographers, dramaturgs, curators) working in theatre, visual art, or film/TV who demonstrates excellence and passion in their own practice and who has a view of the arts and community that is broad, inclusive, and supportive. The recipient will be someone who clearly supports the journeys and practices of others, who finds joy in others’ work and in other artistic disciplines, and who demonstrates the kind of generosity Ross modelled.