Guná, Michelle Sound and Charlene Vickers Among 2025 Sobey Art Award Longlisted Artists
(From L): Gunà (Megan Jensen), Michelle Sound and Charlene Vickers. (Photos courtesy National Gallery of Canada)
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The artists are among 30 longlisted for the prestigious award, which is the richest art prize in Canada.
Artists and Emily Carr University of Art + Design (ECU) alums Guná (Megan Jensen) (BFA 2021), Michelle Sound (MAA 2011) and Charlene Vickers (alum 1994) are among the 30 outstanding creative practitioners comprising the 2025 longlist for the prestigious Sobey Art Award.
The annual award is the richest art prize in the country, offering significant financial recognition for the country’s “most exciting artists” and generating awareness of contemporary art across Canada.
“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,” says Jonathan Shaughnessy, director of curatorial initiatives at the National Gallery of Canada (NGC), which has administered the award since 2015. “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.”
Guná, Michelle and Charlene all posted messages of excitement and congratulations to fellow artists following the announcement.
The Sobey Art Award is an initiative of the Sobey Art Foundation. Each year, a jury composed of regional representatives from across Canada, as well as one international representative, oversees the selection process. Jonathan Shaughnessy served as the 2025 jury chair.
The longlist represents the jury’s selection of five artists from each of six regions: Circumpolar, Pacific, Prairies, Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic. The Sobey shortlist, featuring one finalist from each region, will be announced June 3, with all shortlisted artists appearing in an exhibition at the NGC.
The 2025 winner, who will be announced on Nov. 8 at a gala event, will receive a prize of $100,000. Additionally, each shortlisted artist will receive $25,000, while each of the remaining longlisted artists will receive $10,000.
Previous winners include ECU alums Brian Jungen, Nadia Myre, Jeremy Shaw, Tsēmā Igharas, Michele Di Menna and Zadie Xa.
Visit the NGC’s website for more information on the 2025 awards and the 2025 longlist.