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Thirty artists will compete for the prestigious 2026 Sobey Art Award, the most valuable prize of its kind in Canada. The long list of nominees was announced this morning by the National Gallery of Canada and the Sobey Art Foundation.
The winner of the $100,000 grand prize will be named at a gala this fall. Shortlisted artists will receive $25,000 each and those names to the longlist are guaranteed $10,000.
The short list will be revealed May 26, and artists who make the cut will have their work featured in a group exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa. The exhibition is scheduled to open in September.
The long list finalists are split evenly across six regional categories: Circumpolar, Pacific, Prairies, Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic. Each zone is represented by five nominees.
In a statement, Jonathan Shaughnessy, the chair of the Sobey Art Award jury, congratulated the honourees and thanked the Sobey Art Foundation which funds the program. “The Sobey Art Award continues to serve as a crucial platform in the circulation of this country’s most pertinent contemporary artistic voices,” said Shaughnessy, who is also the NGC’s director of curatorial initiatives. “Exemplifying a wide array of materials and perspectives, the works of this year’s longlisted artists assert a compelling engagement with the present.”
Past Sobey winners include Divya Mehra, Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory, Nico Williams and Abbas Akhavan who will represent Canada at the Venice Biennale this year. Tania Willard, an artist and curator from Neskonlith First Nation in B.C., received the 2025 prize. Founded in 2002, it originally recognized exemplary artists under 40, but was opened to all ages in 2021.
The artists on the 2026 Sobey Art Award long list are:
Circumpolar
Krystle Silverfox. Cowgirl & NDNs 1, 2025. (United Contemporary)
Janet Nungnik
Annie Pillaktuaq
Pacific
Emily Hermant. Talk Through Me, 2024. (Monte Clark Gallery)
Emily Hermant
Kelly Lycan
Prairies
Anna Binta Diallo. Awakenings (First Light), 2025. (Karen Asher)
Aileen Bahmanipour
Ontario
Aftershocks by Alexa Kumiko Hatanaka. (Laura Findlay/McMichael Canadian Art Collection)
Nadia Belerique
Alexa Kumiko Hatanaka
Quebec
Chun Hua Catherine Dong. The Willows, 2026 (Chun Hua Catherine Dong)
Marie-Michelle Deschamps
Frantz Patrick Henry
Liza Lacroix
Atlantic
Shane Perley-Dutcher. The Crown, 2023. (Michael Patten)
Carrie Allison
Chris Donovan
Chantal Khoury