Gilda Monreal is a writer, actress, and visual artist. She is also the Artistic Director of the international Essencia Arts Collective that is dedicated to using art as a tool for social and community empowerment.

Gilda has worked as a writer for theatre, film and television. Most rescently she participated as a playwright in De Colores Festival of New Works 2011, where she did a public reading of her script AYELEN, a work in progress. In 2011, her work, as a screenwriter and as an actress for her film COLD, was recognized with the award for "Best Picture" at the Outfest International Film Festival. Gilda also wrote and directed the documentary "The Wall That Speaks", produced by the National Film Board of Canada. Her work has been produced and screened in Canada, the United States, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, and Chile.

Gilda is also a quadrilingual actress working in theatre, film and television. Her theatre performance credits include Romeo and Juliet (Juliet), Unity 1918, Julius Caesar, and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Her film and television credits include the lead role in the feature film Bachata, and various comedy performances on Roger's TV.

In addition, Gilda is also a visual artist, working with several mediums including painting, graffiti, video and installation. Her work has been exhibited in select galleries, including A Space Gallery and Creatures Creating Gallery in Toronto, and La Maison de la Culture Mont Royal in Montreal. You can find her large scale murals in the streets of Toronto, Montreal, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Senegal. Her murals and graffiti have been published in magazines, and she has participated in international festivals such as Manifesto, Massive Art, Muro Por la Paz, 2MGraff, Tercer Mundo, and Planet Rock 2010.