An opportunity to recognize and celebrate the breadth of Canada's contemporary visual artistic talent.

OTTAWA, ON, Jan. 15, 2026 /CNW/ - Starting today, the National Gallery of Canada (NGC) and The Sobey Art Foundation (SAF) invite nominations for the 2026 Sobey Art Award. Nominations will be accepted until Saturday, February 14, 2026, at 8 p.m. EST. The 2026 Sobey Art Award nomination form is accessible online here.

Now in its 25th year and 23rd running, Canada's most established contemporary visual arts prize will recognize 30 Canadian artists from regions spanning the country, including the Circumpolar, Pacific, Prairies, Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic regions.

The Sobey Art Award is among the most generous in the world. The money prizes provide significant support to help artists devote themselves to their practice. This year again, the total prize fund amounts to $465,000.

The Award recognizes artists of all ages at a pivotal moment in their careers. Previous winners and finalists have received notable exposure and achieved critical success nationally and internationally. Tania Willard, the recipient of the 2025 Sobey Art Award from the Pacific region, will be featured in a solo exhibition at the Polygon Gallery in North Vancouver, opening in March 2026. This will be followed by her participation in Rememory, the 25th Biennale of Sydney.

Nomination process

The Sobey Art Award is open to individual artists and collectives. Nominees must be Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada and have received recognition from peers, critics, and/or curators.

Nominations for the Award are accepted from established artists, arts professionals, scholars, critics, curators and professionals from art galleries and artist-run centres, as well as private Canadian dealers in visual or media arts. Please note that self-nominated applications will not be accepted. The NGC will notify the sender by e-mail upon receipt of a nomination package.

Next steps

The longlist for 2026, featuring five artists from each of the six regions, will be announced in March. Six artists will then be selected from this list to make the shortlist, which will be revealed later this spring. An exhibition featuring a selection of their artworks will take place at the National Gallery of Canada next fall. The winner will be announced at a special celebration at the Gallery in November.

The overall winner receives $100,000, while each of the five remaining shortlisted artists receives $25,000 and each of the remaining longlisted artists receives $10,000.

Don't miss the 2025 Sobey Art Award Exhibition!

Works by the six artists shortlisted for the 2025 Sobey Art Award are currently on display at the National Gallery of Canada until February 8, 2026.

About The Sobey Art Award
The Sobey Art Award (SAA) is Canada's preeminent prize for Canadian contemporary visual artists. Created in 2002 with funding from The Sobey Art Foundation (SAF), the SAA has helped 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 winners of the Sobey Art Award 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 Sobey Art Foundation
The Sobey Art Foundation was established in 1981 by the late Frank H. Sobey who was a dedicated collector of Canadian art. The Sobey Art Award was founded in 2002 as privately funded prizes for Canadian contemporary visual artists. The award aims to promote new developments in contemporary visual art and attract national and international attention to Canadian artists.

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 14^th to the 21^st century and extensive library and archival holdings.  

Ankosé  –  Everything is connected – Tout est relié  

SOURCE National Gallery of Canada