Presentation of the 2025 cultural management awards

Élizabeth-Ann Doyle – Career Award

Élizabeth-Ann Doyle worked as head of visitor services at the Montréal Museum of Fine Arts from 1992 to 1998. She then joined Cirque du Soleil as a ticket office manager, before becoming a marketing and public relations agent, and then a special events designer in the company. In 2005, she turned producer for Carlito Dalceggio, the multidisciplinary artist from Montréal.

A year later, she co-founded MU with Emmanuelle Hébert. For nearly 20 years now, MU has created 250 frescoes and over 500 murals in all neighbourhoods of the city, awarding more than $6.5 million in fees to over 200 artists, creating just as many student jobs and enabling more than 15,000 young people to benefit from mural art workshops aimed at academic perseverance, building confidence in their own artistic expression and supporting emerging artists. She received the Grand Prix from the Conseil des arts de Montréal and the Ordre de Montréal in the course of her career.

Jury’s words of praise

“Élizabeth-Ann Doyle has built an original and viable model by applying business-specific management principles to a non-profit framework that is imbued with a vision of the city’s beauty.”

Etienne Lavigne – Young Cultural Manager Award

Etienne Lavigne trained as a dancer at the École supérieure de ballet du Québec, among other places, and joined the National Ballet of Canada in 1997. After 20 years of dancing that included more than 1,500 performances in front of 3 million spectators, he changed careers due to an accident. He pursued management studies at Toronto Metropolitan University and co-founded Anymotion Productions (which later became Côté Danse) with Guillaume Côté in 2013.

In 2016, he was named Executive Director of the Festival des Arts de Saint-Sauveur. He doubled the Festival’s revenue in eight years so that it reached $1.6 million in 2024 and grew its foundation to $3.3 million. In 2024, while many organizations were still struggling to regain their pre-pandemic audience, he increased ticket sales by 36% compared to 2019. Thanks to his tireless efforts, the Festival received the Opus Award for “Specialized Presenter of the Year” in Quebec in 2020, and the Ambassador Award at the Grands Prix de la culture des Laurentides in 2022.

Jury’s words of praise

“Etienne Lavigne has structured and supported the exceptional growth of the Festival des Arts de Saint-Sauveur, not only by making it the city’s flagship event, but also by ensuring the influence of dance, both at home and abroad, through Côté Danse.” 

Lorraine Pintal – Special Award 

Lorraine Pintal co-founded the theatre company La Rallonge with a few classmates, upon graduating from the Conservatoire d’art dramatique de Montréal in 1973. Her career path as a stage director began in 1981 with a play by Marie Laberge; this was followed by the production of some great works by Marcel Dubé, Réjean Ducharme and Claude Gauvreau. From 1987, she produced several television series for Radio-Canada; in 1992, she asserted her leadership qualities by coordinating and directing Victor-Lévy Beaulieu’s Montréal P.Q. series, including budget management, work planning and contract negotiations.

In 1992, she was appointed as the TNM’s first woman director during a difficult time; she succeeded in restoring its financial health and launched an initial renovation project in 1997, followed by a second one in 2021. She has remained at the helm for 33 years, managing a team of over 80 full- and part-time employees, with a current budget of nearly $11 million and assets worth $64 million.

Jury’s words of praise

“In light of Lorraine Pintal’s exceptional accomplishments as General Director of the TNM, it is important to highlight this unique journey if only in terms of management.”