The 2025 Sobey Art Award short list is out
Six artists from regions across Canada will contend for the $100,000 honour
The 2025 Sobey Art Award short list was announced this morning by the Sobey Art Foundation and the National Gallery of Canada.
Among the finalists for Canada's preeminent prize dedicated to contemporary art are makers known for their audiovisual environments, land-based practices and immersive textile installations.
Selected from six regions across the country, the artists contending for the top honour are: Tarralik Duffy (Circumpolar), Tania Willard (Pacific), Chukwudubem Ukaigwe (Prairies), Sandra Brewster (Ontario), Swapnaa Tamhane (Quebec) and Hangama Amiri (Atlantic).
The grand prize winner will take home $100,000, while the other short-listers will win $25,000. Artists named to the long list will each be awarded $10,000.
"Congratulations to the six outstanding artists shortlisted for the 2025 Sobey Art Award," reads a statement from Jonathan Shaughnessy, the National Gallery of Canada's director of curatorial initiatives and chair of the 2025 Sobey Award jury.
"Through paintings, drawings, textiles, video, sculpture and multidisciplinary installations, their works capture the vitality of artmaking in this country today while touching on subjects pertinent to contemporary Canadian identity."
The work of the six shortlisted artists will be featured in an exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada opening in October. The grand prize winner will be named at a gala in Ottawa on November 8.
Last year, Nico Williams received the top honour. Past winners also include Brian Jungen, Abbas Akhavan and Kapwani Kiwanga.
Awarding a total $465,000 in prize money, the Sobey Art Award is the largest purse for contemporary artists in Canada and one of the richest art prizes in the world. The annual prize aims to promote Canadian artistic talents both at home and abroad.