Finalists for the Sobey Art Award, Canada's top contemporary art prize, revealed

Six artists from across Canada were shortlisted for the 2026 Sobey Art Award: Melaw Nakehk'o, Samuel Roy-Bois, Audie Murray, Lotus L. Kang, Caroline Monnet, and Shane Perley-Dutcher. The award, in its 23rd year, provides C$25,000 to each of the six finalists and a C$100,000 grand prize. A ceremony in Ottawa on 14 November announced the finalists. An exhibition featuring the six shortlisted artists will be held at the National Gallery of Canada later this year. The 24 longlisted artists not selected as finalists will each receive C$10,000. The finalists reflect geographic, cultural, and aesthetic diversity, including First Nations ancestry and Asian and African backgrounds, with practices spanning textile art, film-making, and sculpture.

"Six artists from across Canada have been shortlisted for the 2026 edition of the prestigious Sobey Art Award. They are Melaw Nakehk'o (representing the Circumpolar region), Samuel Roy-Bois (Pacific), Audie Murray (Prairies), Lotus L. Kang (Ontario), Caroline Monnet (Québec) and Shane Perley-Dutcher (Atlantic). Now in its 23rd year, the nation's top contemporary art prize awards the six finalists C$25,000 ($18,000) each with a grand prize of C$100,000 ($72,000) announced at a ceremony in Ottawa on 14 November."

"According to a joint announcement by the Sobey Art Foundation and the National Gallery of Canada (NGC), an exhibition featuring works by the six shortlisted artists will be held at the gallery later this year. Each of the 24 longlisted artists not among the six finalists will receive C$10,000 ($7,200). The shortlisted artists not only span Canadian geography, but also its cultural and aesthetic diversity, with four out of the six finalists of First Nations ancestry and others of Asian and African backgrounds."

"Much like the hybrid nation itself, the finalists' oeuvre suggests a certain alchemy at work with striking transformations of materials and traditions. "This year's shortlisted artists represent a dynamic cross-section of contemporary visual practice," Jonathan Shaughnessy, the director of curatorial initiatives at the NGC and chair of the 2026 Sobey Award jury, said in a statement. The finalists' work spans textile art, film-making and sculpture."

""Through innovative and compelling transformations of materials, their artworks shape and are shaped by deep personal, cultural, and material histories and experience." The finalist from Ontario, , is known for a practice that encompasses sculpture, photography and site-responsive installation, exploring themes of impermanence, inheritance and time. She draws from industrial and architectural forms, familial and social histories, poetry and non-human figures."

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