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The 2025 Sobey Art Award long list is here

Thirty contemporary artists selected from regions across the country will contend for the $100,000 honour, which is the richest prize in Canadian art.

30 artists from across the country will contend for the richest prize in Canadian art

Chris Hampton · CBC Arts ·
Three photographic portraits are stitched together. The first shows a woman with short curly hair. Her eyes are circled with makeup. The second shows a man with long hair and a moustache. The third shows a woman with tightly curled hair.
From left to right, Michelle Lacombe, Mathew Nuqingaq and Sandra Brewster. The three artists are among the 30 outstanding Canadian talents named to the 2025 Sobey Art Award long list. (Alex Tran, Mathew Nuqingaq, Jalani Morgan)

The long list for the 2025 Sobey Art Award, one of Canada's most prestigious art prizes, was announced this morning.

The 30 artists selected from six regions across the country will contend for the $100,000 top honour. Artists named to the short list will win $25,000 and the remaining long-listers will each be awarded $10,000. 

This year's long list recognizes a wide array of practices, including artists known for mask-making, jewelry design and textile portraiture. 

With a total $465,000 in prize money, the Sobey Art Award is not only the largest purse for contemporary artists in Canada, but it is one of the richest art prizes in the world. It aims to promote exceptional Canadian talent to audiences both at home and abroad. 

"Providing a platform for Canada's most pertinent artistic voices has long been a key pillar of the Award and something that is ever more consequential," reads a statement from the jury. "This year's selection, drawn from a strong pool of nominations, is a testament to the compelling breadth and calibre of contemporary artmaking in this country."

The six shortlisted artists will be announced on June 3, and their work will be featured in an exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada next fall. The grand prize winner will be named at a gala in Ottawa on November 8. The 2024 Sobey Art Award was won by Nico Williams. Past winners also include Brian Jungen, Abbas Akhavan and Kapwani Kiwanga.

The artists of the 2025 Sobey Art Award long list are:

Circumpolar

  • Darcie Bernhardt
  • Tarralik Duffy
  • Megan Jensen
  • Shirley Moorhouse
  • Mathew Nuqingaq

Pacific

  • Charles Campbell
  • Hazel Meyer
  • Michelle Sound
  • Charlene Vickers
  • Tania Willard

Prairies

  • Christina Battle
  • Molly JF Caldwell
  • Erika Jean Lincoln
  • Jessie Ray Short
  • Chukwudubem Ukaigwe

Ontario

  • Sandra Brewster
  • Christian Chapman
  • Sarindar Dhaliwal
  • Morris Lum
  • Shellie Zhang

Quebec

  • Joyce Joumaa
  • Michelle Lacombe
  • Leisure (Susannah Wesley and Meredith Carruthers)
  • Malena Szlam Salazar
  • Swapnaa Tamhane

Atlantic

  • Hangama Amiri
  • Erin Hunt
  • Megan Samms
  • Miya Turnbull
  • Nelson White

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Chris Hampton

Chris Hampton is a producer with CBC Arts. His writing has appeared elsewhere in the New York Times, the Toronto Star, the Globe and Mail, The Walrus and Canadian Art. Find him on Instagram: @chris.hampton

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