Nomination deadline: March 20, 2024, 8pm
The National Gallery of Canada (NGC) and the Sobey Art Foundation (SAF) announce that the 2024 Sobey Art Award call for nominations is now open. Nominations will be accepted until Wednesday, March 20, 2024, 8pm EST. Starting this year, Canada’s preeminent contemporary visual arts award will recognize an additional five Canadian artists. A sixth region, Circumpolar, has been added to the nomination process, encompassing Nunavut, Nunavik (Northern Quebec), Nunatsiavut (Northern Labrador), Yukon and the Northwest Territories. This fundamental change to the award brings the total prize money to 465,000 CAD and ensures that five longlisted artists and one shortlisted artist will always hail from this region.
The 2024 Sobey Art Award nomination form is accessible online here.
“The Sobey Art Award mission is to champion and propel the careers of visual artists of all ages from across Canada; the addition of the Circumpolar region is a testament to the Sobey Art Foundation’s direct support to artists and the perspectives they bring,” said Jonathan Shaughnessy, Director, Curatorial Initiatives, NGC, and Chair of the 2024 Sobey Award Jury. “I look forward to working with our jury to discover more submissions from across the country.”
“We are very happy that even more deserving contemporary artists from Canada will be included in the Sobey Art Award long- and shortlists,” said Rob Sobey, Chair of the Board of Trustees, Sobey Art Foundation. “The Circumpolar region was added to acknowledge the incredible talent of artists from this region and to better reflect the cultural makeup of our country. We look forward to this year’s edition and to connecting more of Canada’s most innovative and creative voices with new audiences.”
The 2024 longlist, to be announced on April 30, 2024, will feature 30 Canadian artists; five artists from each of the six regions across Canada: Circumpolar, Pacific, Prairies, Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic.
With a total of $465,000 in prize money awarded to Canadian contemporary visual artists, the Sobey Art Award is the richest award in the country and one of the most generous in the world. The overall winner receives 100,000 CAD; each of the five shortlisted artists receives 25,000 CAD; and each of the remaining longlisted artists receives 10,000 CAD.
Six shortlisted artists will be announced on June 11, 2024, and featured in an exhibition at the NGC this fall. The winner will be announced at a celebration on November 9, 2024. The 2023 Sobey Art Award went to Kablusiak, representing the former Prairies and North region.
About the 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.
The NGC will accept nominations for the Award from established artists, arts professionals, scholars, critics, curators, professionals from art galleries and artist-run-centres, as well as private Canadian dealers in visual or media arts. The NGC will notify the sender by e-mail upon receipt of a nomination package.
Artworks from the five 2023 Sobey Art Award shortlisted artists are currently on display at the National Gallery of Canada until March 3, 2024.
For media inquiries, please contact: Josée-Britanie Mallet, National Gallery of Canada, bmallet [at] gallery.ca
About the Sobey Art Award.
About the Sobey Art Foundation.
About the National Gallery of Canada.
