Six exceptional voices named as finalists for Canada's most established contemporary visual arts award
OTTAWA, ON, May 26, 2026 /CNW/ - Six visionary artists from across Canada redefining the boundaries of contemporary art have been shortlisted for the 2026 Sobey Art Award. This year's shortlist celebrates a wide range of creative practices, from land-based pedagogy, and architectural sculpture to ancestral materiality. The National Gallery of Canada (NGC) and the Sobey Art Foundation (SAF) today revealed the finalists for Canada's most established contemporary visual arts prize:
Melaw Nakehk'o, for the Circumpolar region. A Yellowknife-based Dene/Dënesułińe artist, Nakehk'o is an educator whose multidisciplinary practice spans textile arts, filmmaking, and land-based pedagogy. By reviving traditional moosehide tanning and community-focused teachings, they have inspired a powerful cultural resurgence across the Circumpolar region.
Samuel Roy-Bois, for the Pacific region. Roy-Bois is an acclaimed artist and UBC Okanagan Associate Professor whose multidisciplinary practice explores sculpture, installation, photography, and the built environment. His award-winning work has been exhibited internationally and is held in major Canadian collections, including the Vancouver Art Gallery and the Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art.
Audie Murray, for the Prairies region. Based in Regina, Murray is a Métis and Cree artist from the Flying Dust First Nation whose multidisciplinary practice explores ancestral knowledge, memory, and contemporary Indigenous life. An MFA graduate and recipient of the 2025 ohpinamake Prize, her acclaimed work has been exhibited globally at institutions including the Vancouver Art Gallery and the Hessel Museum of Art.
Lotus L. Kang, for the Ontario region. Artist Lotus L. Kang explores themes of impermanence, inheritance, and time through a materially dense practice spanning sculpture, photography, and site-responsive installation. By utilizing unstable, organic, and structural forms that refuse to settle, her fluid work visualizes the environment and the self as deeply interconnected and ever evolving.
Caroline Monnet, for the Quebec region. Based in Mooniyang (Montreal), multidisciplinary artist Caroline Monnet creates work that draws from her Anishinaabe and French ancestry. Her acclaimed art has been featured in major international exhibitions--including the Whitney Biennial and the NGC--and is held in prestigious permanent collections worldwide.
Shane Perley-Dutcher, for the Atlantic region. Shane Perley-Dutcher, a Wolastokew (Maliseet) visual artist and metalsmith from New Brunswick, transforms traditional Wabanaki ash basketry by weaving metal splints into imaginative, mixed-media basket sculptures. By combining soft metals with organic materials like cedar, spruce, and ash, he creates unique jewelry and one-of-a-kind sculptures that are held in prestigious private and public collections worldwide.
"Every year, the Sobey Art Award reminds us of the incredible depth, resilience, and talent in Canada's contemporary art community. This year's shortlisted artists are not just experts of their practice; they are vital cultural voices challenging how we see history, environment and identity," said Rob Sobey, Chair, Sobey Art Foundation. "Our Art Foundation is very proud to champion these six phenomenal finalists as they take this well-deserved place on the national stage, and we cannot wait to share their vision with audiences across Canada and internationally. Congratulations to all."
"This year's shortlisted artists represent a dynamic cross-section of contemporary visual practice. Through innovative and compelling transformations of materials, their artworks shape and are shaped by deep personal, cultural, and material histories and experience. We are thrilled to bring their works together at the National Gallery of Canada this September for an exhibition that promises to be a deeply moving experience for visitors," said Jonathan Shaughnessy, Director, Curatorial Initiatives, NGC, and Chair, 2026 Sobey Award Jury.
A total of $465,000, in prize money will be awarded, including the $100,000 grand prize. Each of the shortlisted artists receives $25,000 and each of the remaining longlisted artists receives $10,000. The winner of the award will be announced at a special celebration on November 14, 2026. An exhibition featuring works by the six shortlisted artists will be held at the Gallery, opening on September 4, 2026, and running until January 4, 2027.
The jury
The independent jury, which oversees the selection of the longlist, shortlist and the winner, comprises contemporary arts curators and gallery and museum executives, with representation from each region, as well as an international juror. For the 2026 edition, they are:
- Krista Ulujuk Zawadski, Inuk scholar, curator, and mentor, for the Circumpolar region;
- Kimberly Philips, Director, The Marianne and Edward Gibson Art Museum, Simon Fraser University, for the Pacific region;
- Su Ying Strang, Executive Director, Southern Alberta Art Gallery Maansiksikaitsitapiitsinikssin, for the Prairies region;
- Julia Paoli, Director & Curator of The Vega Foundation, for the Ontario region;
- Daisy Desrosiers, Britton Family Curator at Large, North America, Tate, for the Quebec region;
- Emma Hasencahl-Perley, Curator of Indigenous Art at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, for the Atlantic region; and
- Helen Nisbet, Director of Glasgow International, International juror.
For more information on the 2026 longlisted and shortlisted artists, please visit: Sobey Art Award – Artists | National Gallery of Canada
About the Sobey Art Award
The Sobey Art Foundation was established in 1981 by the late Frank H. Sobey, a dedicated collector of Canadian art. The Sobey Art Award (SAA) is Canada's preeminent prize for Canadian contemporary visual artists. Created in 2002 and privately funded by the Sobey Art Foundation (SAF), the award aims to promote new developments in contemporary visual arts and help to propel the careers of artists through financial support and recognition in Canada and beyond. The SAA has been jointly administered by the National Gallery of Canada (NGC) and SAF since 2016.
The past SAA winners are: Brian Jungen (2002), Jean-Pierre Gauthier (2004), Annie Pootoogook (2006), Michel de Broin (2007), Tim Lee (2008), David Altmejd (2009), Daniel Barrow (2010), Daniel Young and Christian Giroux (2011), Raphaëlle de Groot (2012), Duane Linklater (2013), Nadia Myre (2014), Abbas Akhavan (2015), Jeremy Shaw (2016), Ursula Johnson (2017), Kapwani Kiwanga (2018), Stephanie Comilang (2019), Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory (2021), Divya Mehra (2022), Kablusiak (2023), Nico Williams (2024), and Tania Willard (2025).
About the National Gallery of Canada
Founded in 1880, the National Gallery of Canada is among the world's most respected art institutions. As a national museum, we exist to serve all Canadians, no matter where they live. We do this by sharing our collection, exhibitions and public programming widely. We create dynamic experiences that allow for new ways of seeing ourselves and each other through the visual arts, while centering Indigenous ways of knowing and being. Our mandate is to develop, preserve and present a collection for the learning and enjoyment of all--now and for generations to come. We are home to more than 90,000 works, including one of the finest collections of Indigenous and Canadian art, major works from the 14th to the 21st century and extensive library and archival holdings. Our dazzling, light-filled building is situated on the unceded traditional territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabe Nation, in Ottawa.
SOURCE National Gallery of Canada
For media inquiries, please contact: Josée-Britanie Mallet, Senior Officer, Media and Public Relations, National Gallery of Canada, [email protected]; Pénélope Carreau, Officer, Public Relations, National Gallery of Canada, [email protected]
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