Six regional finalists, from caribou-hide sculpture to kinetic film-drying machines, share one gallery in Ottawa until January 3 — with the grand prize decision still ten weeks away.
The Sobey Art Award Exhibition 2026 opens to the public on September 4 at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, gathering recent work by the year’s six shortlisted artists in a single presentation that runs through January 3, 2027. Presented by the National Gallery of Canada (NGC) together with the Sobey Art Foundation (SAF), the show precedes the announcement of the award’s grand prize winner on November 14, 2026.
The exhibition spans sculpture, installation, photography, painting, film, textiles, metalwork and land-based practice — a deliberately wide range that the organizers say mirrors the breadth of artistic production underway across the country. Across the six presentations, recurring concerns include memory, language, land, identity and cultural tradition.
What Visitors Will See in the Sobey Art Award Exhibition 2026
Rather than dividing the finalists into separate satellite displays, the National Gallery has assembled all six practices in one space at 380 Sussex Drive. The result is less a survey of a single medium than a cross-section of methods: hide tanned by hand, charcoal made from ceremonial plants, cast photographic materials, industrial polyethylene and cement, ash splint and forged metal.
The Sobey Art Award is organized by the NGC and funded by the SAF, and recognizes artists whose work shows innovative approaches and thought-provoking perspectives in contemporary art in Canada. The award’s structure is regional: each finalist represents one of five geographic zones plus the circumpolar region, so the exhibition doubles as a snapshot of where practices are developing outside the country’s largest art markets.
The Six Regional Finalists and the Works on Display
| Region | Artist | Works cited in the exhibition |
|---|---|---|
| Circumpolar | Melaw Nakehk’o | Mostly Human (2026), Sinew Theory Pink (2025), All That Is/Shifts (2026) |
| Pacific | Samuel Roy-Bois | Works from the Balloon (2025) and Sovereign (2019) series |
| Prairies | Audie Murray | Mural To Make Smoke |
| Ontario | Lotus L. Kang | Azaleas II (2025) |
| Quebec | Caroline Monnet | Papakinede (2024), Eyes on the Prize (2024) |
| Atlantic | Shane Perley-Dutcher | The Crown (2024), Palitahamso/Proud (2023) |
Caribou Hide, Smudge Charcoal and Wolastoqey Basketry: How the Materials Carry the Message
Several of the finalists work with materials that are inseparable from the communities and knowledge systems they come from. Melaw Nakehk’o, the circumpolar finalist, makes multimedia work grounded in Dene knowledge and a land-based, community-driven approach; Mostly Human is a soft sculpture built from caribou hide she tanned herself, and her paintings extend an homage to the caribou that sustains both her community and her practice.
Prairies finalist Audie Murray draws on Métis and Cree knowledge and ceremony in process-based work. Her mural To Make Smoke uses charcoal made from the remnants of smudging sweetgrass, cedar and sage, combined with locally sourced water, producing what the organizers describe as a quiet “container” of smudge smoke — markings that register labour, bodily movement and presence.
Atlantic finalist Shane Perley-Dutcher reinterprets Wolastoqey basketry through a dual skill set as a metal smith and an ash splint basket maker. The Crown and Palitahamso/Proud push traditional forms into new shapes while acknowledging the weavers who preceded him.
Kinetic Sculpture, Built Environments and Construction Materials
Ontario finalist Lotus L. Kang works with photographic materials and cast sculptural forms to examine memory, impermanence and transformation. Her contribution, Azaleas II (2025), is modelled on a machine used to dry processed 35-mm film; the kinetic sculpture rotates according to a score derived from the syllabic metre of poems by Kim Sowŏl and Kim Hyesoon.
Pacific finalist Samuel Roy-Bois turns his attention to the built environment through sculpture and photography. Two- and three-dimensional works from his Balloon and Sovereign series consider how material encounters shape human existence, and how objects and spaces act as agents inside institutional and cultural frameworks.
Quebec finalist Caroline Monnet works across disciplines on questions of language, territory and Indigenous experience. Papakinede and Eyes on the Prize incorporate construction materials such as polyethylene and cement, connecting the surfaces of contemporary building to lived realities that range from language preservation to inadequate housing.
What Rob Sobey and Jonathan Shaughnessy Said About This Year’s Shortlist
Rob Sobey, Chair of the Sobey Art Foundation, said the award exists to champion artists whose work expands the understanding of contemporary art and reflects the complexity and creativity of the present moment. He described this year’s finalists as demonstrating “remarkable vision, originality and commitment to their practices,” and framed the exhibition as a way to foster dialogue and mark the strength of contemporary artistic voices nationwide.
Jonathan Shaughnessy, Director, Curatorial Initiatives at the NGC and Chair of the 2026 Sobey Art Award Jury, pointed to the format itself as the year’s distinguishing feature — the chance to encounter all six practices together in one space. He said the Gallery hopes visitors will draw their own connections between six distinctive voices currently shaping the visual arts in Canada.
How the 2026 Award Reached This Point
The exhibition is the near-final stage of a cycle that has been running publicly since the start of the year. The dated milestones announced by the National Gallery are:
- January 16, 2026: Call for nominations for the 2026 Sobey Art Award.
- April 16, 2026: Release of the 2026 longlist.
- May 26, 2026: Release of the 2026 shortlist of six regional finalists.
- September 4, 2026: Public opening of the Sobey Art Award Exhibition 2026.
- November 14, 2026: Announcement of the 2026 grand prize winner.
- January 3, 2027: Final day of the exhibition.
The 2025 edition followed the same rhythm, with its longlist in April, shortlist in June, exhibition opening in October and Tania Willard named grand prize winner on November 10, 2025. Prize amounts for 2026, jury composition beyond the chair, and ticketing or admission details were not included in the Gallery’s announcement.
Why a Single-Room Shortlist Show Matters for Canadian Art Audiences
For general audiences, the practical value of the format is comparison. Regional prizes often circulate as separate news items — a shortlist here, a solo presentation there — but placing all six finalists in one gallery lets visitors weigh very different approaches against each other in an afternoon, and see how artists in the North, the Prairies, the Atlantic provinces, Quebec, Ontario and the Pacific are handling overlapping questions with entirely different materials.
There is also an institutional dimension. Exposure at the national museum, followed by a nationally reported prize decision, tends to reshape an artist’s exhibition and collection prospects — which is why the shortlist stage, not only the win, functions as a career marker. General industry context: in the wider museum sector, prize exhibitions are commonly used to bring contemporary practice to audiences who visit chiefly for permanent collections, and the November announcement gives the show a second news cycle midway through its run.
Readers planning a visit should note the run is long — four months — and spans the autumn and winter tourism seasons in the capital. The Gallery’s own channels remain the place to confirm hours, admission and any programming attached to the exhibition; media inquiries are handled through the NGC communications office.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is the Sobey Art Award Exhibition 2026 open, and where?
It runs from September 4, 2026 to January 3, 2027 at the National Gallery of Canada, 380 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, Ontario.
When will the 2026 winner be named?
The grand prize winner is scheduled to be announced on November 14, 2026, roughly ten weeks after the exhibition opens.
Who organizes and pays for the award?
The Sobey Art Award is organized by the National Gallery of Canada and funded by the Sobey Art Foundation. The 2026 jury is chaired by Jonathan Shaughnessy, the Gallery’s Director, Curatorial Initiatives.
How much is the prize worth?
Not mentioned in the announcement. Prize values and the full breakdown among finalists were not specified.
How were the six finalists chosen?
The 2026 cycle began with a call for nominations in January, followed by a longlist in April and the six-artist regional shortlist in May. Detailed jury criteria beyond the award’s stated focus on innovative approaches and thought-provoking perspectives were not specified.
