Long list for $50,000 Sobey Art Award announced

OTTAWA – The Sobey Art Award has announced its long list of 25 artists from across the country vying for the top prize of $50,000.

The honour is presented each year to a Canadian artist aged 40 and under who has exhibited in a public or commercial art gallery within 18 months of being nominated.

Atlantic artists vying for the award are Eleanor King, Graeme Patterson, Lisa Lipton, Melanie Colosimo and Ursula Johnson.

From Quebec, the contenders are Annie Baillargeon, Dan Brault, Jacynthe Carrier, Kim Waldron and Ludovic Boney.

Ontario artists recognized are Bridget Moser, Erika DeFreitas, Jean-Paul Kelly, Nadia Belerique and Sameer Farooq.

From the Prairies and the North, the long-listed finalists include Amy Malbeuf, Divya Mehra, Erica Eyres, Kara Uzelman and The Ephemerals.

From the West Coast and the Yukon, the artists honoured are Babak Golkar, James Nizam, Jeneen Frei Njootli, Raymond Boisjoly and Rebecca Brewer.

The short list will be announced on June 6 and will include one artist from every region of the country.

The selected finalists are slated to exhibit their work at the Art Museum at the University of Toronto from Oct. 24 to Dec. 9.

The award will distribute a total of $100,000 — $50,000 to the winner, $10,000 to each of the other four short-listed artists and $500 to the other long-listed artists.

The Sobey Art Award winner will be announced during a gala event in Toronto on Oct. 25.