The Sobey Art Award is Canada's largest prize for young Canadian artists.[1] It is named after Canadian businessperson and art collector Frank H. Sobey, who established The Sobey Art Foundation. It is an annual prize given to an artist 40 and under who has exhibited in a public or commercial art gallery within 18 months of being nominated. A jury consisting of an international juror and representatives of galleries from the West Coast and the Yukon, the Prairies and the North, Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic Provinces creates a longlist of 25 artists, five from each region. The jury meets to select the winner and four other finalists, one from each region.[2]
The Sobey award has attracted controversy in the past. Annie Pootoogook became the first Inuit artist to win the prize in 2006, despite the Sobey foundation failing to recognize her native Nunavut and the Northwest Territories as regions of significant cultural production.[3] The award has 2017 was the first year to see the shortlist dominated by women and also the first year that more than one Indigenous artist was shortlisted.[4]
Up to 2013, a total of $70,000 in prize money was awarded each time the prize was presented; $50,000 to the winner and $5,000 to the other four finalists. In 2014 the total was increased to $100,000 with $50,000 to the winner and $12,500 to the other four finalists. In 2017, the money awarded to longlisted artists was increased from $500 to $1,000.[4] In 2018, the prize money increased once again, to a total of $240,000; $100,000 to the winner, $25,000 for each of the other four finalists, and $2,000 for each short-listed artist.[5]
The award was presented biennially until 2006 at which point it became an annual award. From its inception until 2015, the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia organized and administered the Sobey Art Award and its accompanying exhibition. The National Gallery of Canada assumed responsibility for the award in 2016.[6] In 2020, Sobey Art Foundation and the National Gallery of Canada decided to distribute the cash award among the 25 finalists rather than just one winner. This was a response to the financial hardships suffered by artists because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[7]
^"Is It Time to Rethink the Sobey Art Award's Age Limit?". Canadian Art. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
^"About the Award". Sobey Art Award. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
^Campbell, Nancy G. (2020). Annie Pootoogook: Life & Work. Toronto: Art Canada Institute. ISBN 9781487102371.
^ ab"Women Dominate Sobey Art Award Shortlist for First Time Ever". Canadian Art. Retrieved 2017-10-26.
^"Sobey Art Award gets cash boost to $100K". CBC News. January 29, 2018. Retrieved March 4, 2018.
^Canadian Art. "Vancouver Artist Wins $50K Sobey Art Award". Canadian Art. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
^"Inuk artist Asinnajaq wins a 2020 Sobey Art Award". Nunatsiaq News. 16 April 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
The SobeyArtAward is Canada's largest prize for young Canadian artists. It is named after Canadian businessperson and art collector Frank H. Sobey, who...
Art Foundation, an art foundation founded by Frank SobeySobeyArtAward, Canada's largest prize for young Canadian artists Sobeys Slam, a former Grand...
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Indigenous women in the media. As one of the five finalist of the 2018 SobeyArtAward, Njoottli's work, wind sucked in through bared teeth (2017) is included...
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the SobeyArtAward, one of Canada's most prestigious contemporary artawards. Greeley studied at the Cooper Union School for the Advancement of Art and...
colonial history, tradition, and cultural practice. In 2017, she won the SobeyArtAward. Ursula A. Johnson was born in Sydney, Nova Scotia, in 1980. She was...
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video works, and has received the following awards for her work: 2018: Frieze Artist Award 2018: SobeyArtAward 2018: ADAGP-Etant donnés 2020: Marcel Duchamp...
represent the West Coast & Yukon for the 2015 SobeyArtAward in Canada. The SobeyArtAward is an annual award that celebrates Canada's most exciting young...
Venice Biennale. Gill was longlisted for the SobeyArtAward, Canada's preeminent contemporary artaward, in 2004, 2006 and 2023. "Like many university...
Frye Art Museum, Seattle, Washington(2021) and at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (2023). In 2013, Linklater won the $50,000 SobeyArtAward. In...
installation art, performance, video art and photography. De Pauw was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. She was a shortlist nominee for the 2011 SobeyArt Award...
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