Awards & Recognition

Lianna has been honored with numerous awards, recognitions, and residencies from both the professional theatre and Ukrainian communities. She has also been invited as a featured speaker at several community events.

  • Finalist – Gina’s Prize – A national prize awarded to an inspirational theatre artist with a demonstrated body of work who is recognized by their communities for their practice, leadership and dedication to their craft (2024)

  • Winner - Dora Mavor Moore Award – Outstanding Direction for First Métis Man of Odesa (2023)

  • Top 40 Under 40 – Edify Edmonton Magazine (2023) - Recognizes and celebrates Edmonton's young and most exceptional community leaders.

  • Named one of the top 50 Canadian Fellows of Ukraine – International Charitable Fund UDonation (2023)

  • Elizabeth Sterling Haynes Nomination (2023) – Alina by Lianna Makuch – Outstanding New Play

  • Finalist – Alberta Playwrighting Award (2022) – Alina by Lianna Makuch

  • Edmonton Artist Trust Fund Award (2022) - The EATF invests in the creative community by supporting living and working expenses, allowing exceptional local artists to devote time to their artistic career.

  • Named a Local Hero of Ukraine by Shumka

  • Barvinok Screenplay - Project officially selected to pitch at the Canada-Ukraine Co-Production Conference (2021)

  • REACH Award – National Shevchenko Foundation/Ihnatowycz Family Foundation (2020)

  • Anna Pidruchny Award for New Writers, Ukrainian Resource and Development Centre – Awarded for Barvinok (2020)

  • National Leadership Award – Ukrainian Canadian Congress National (2019)

  • Hetman Award – Ukrainian Canadian Congress – Alberta Provincial Council (2019)

  • Elizabeth Sterling Haynes Award Nominations: (Barvinok by Lianna Makuch): Outstanding Independent Production, Outstanding New Work, Outstanding Sound Design, Outstanding Multimedia Design.

  • Top 30 Under 30 Artist – Alberta Council for Ukrainian Arts (2018)

  • ACUA-URDC Award (Alberta Council for Ukrainian Arts – Ukrainian Research and Development Centre)

  • Rena Hanchuk & Yaroslav Kitynskyy Emerging Artist Award (2018)

Residencies

  • Izolyatsia Cultural Platform, Residency –  Kyiv UA – Development of new play Alina – February 2020

  • Wild Theatre / Les Kurbas Theatre – Kyiv, UA – Artist-in-Residence - Workshop & Development of Barvinok (2018)

(left to right) Banff Centre for the Arts, Izolyatsia Cultural Platform, Wild Theatre

Featured Speaker

  • Workshop Leader: MacEwan Writing Centre - Inspiring Dynamic Storytelling. The workshop will begin with an interview and question-and-answer period about Makuch’s prolific career as a writer, theatre artist, including her distinctive ethnographic research process. Participants will then engage in a collaborative exercise focused on generating story content and honing structure applicable across creative disciplines.

    February 12, 2025. Edmonton, AB.

  • Moderator: Indigenous Ukrainian Relationship Building Initiative. Storying Indigenous-Ukrainian-Canadian Relationships. A round table discussion.

    May 7, 2023. Edmonton, AB.

  • Bustle & Beast: IN CONVERSATION: THEATRE CREATION IN RESPONSE TO GLOBAL CONFLICT & CRISIS. Panelist.

    April 1, 2023. Toronto, ON.

  • Creative Nonfiction Collective: Ukrainian Canadian Writers in a time of War. Myrna Kostash in Conversation with Ruby Swanson and Lianna Makuch.

    January 21, 2023

  • Ryga Arts Festival: Creating Theatre from Real World events. September 23, 2023. Summerland, BC.

  • SUSK Congress 2022: Artists, Tradition, and History: The Importance of Cultural Heritage in Creative Practices.

    May 13, 2022. Edmonton, AB.