Artists from Iqaluit, Baker Lake longlisted for 2026 Sobey Art Award
Annie Pillaktuaq and Janet Nungnik in running for $465,000 in prize money
Artists Annie Pillaktuaq, left, from Iqaluit, and Janet Nungnik, who is based in Baker Lake, are two of the five northern artists included among 30 longlisted contenders for the 2026 Sobey Art Award. Six finalists will be announced May 26, and the winner will be named on Nov. 14. (Photos by Dhivya Shastri and Robert Kardosh)
A Baker Lake textile artist and an Iqaluit painter are among 30 longlisted contenders for the 2026 Sobey Art Award.
The award, jointly run by the National Gallery of Canada and Sobey Art Foundation, recognizes artists from across six Canadian regions — including a Circumpolar category — and annually distributes $465,000 in prize money.
The list was announced Thursday in a news release. Inuit artists Janet Nungnik, from Baker Lake, and Annie Pillaktuaq, of Iqaluit, are on the list.
Nungnik works primarily in embroidery; appliqué, or decorative needlework; and beadwork on duffel. Her wall-hangings often depict Inuit connections with the land.
Pillaktuaq’s practice incorporates materials like acrylic paints, sealskin and putty. Her work is inspired by the Cubist art movement while also incorporating Inuit traditional stories, according to her profile in the Inuit Art Quarterly.
Also longlisted in the Circumpolar category are Melissa Tremblett, Melaw Nakehk’o and Krystle Silverfox.
Tremblett, a visual artist of Innu and English heritage from the community of Sheshatshiu, Labrador, is currently based in Bay of Islands, Western N.L. She was awarded the ArtsNL Artist of the Year Award in 2022 in recognition of her contribution to the arts in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Nakehk’o is a multidisciplinary Dene/Dënesułińe artist and educator based in Yellowknife, whose work includes documentary films, digital art and soft sculptures made with caribou hide.
Silverfox, a visual artist, is from Selkirk First Nation Wolf Clan and based in Whitehorse. She was shortlisted for the 2022 Sobey Art Award and is inspired by Indigenous feminism, decolonialism, and lived experience, according to a National Gallery of Canada biography.
Six artists shortlisted for the 2026 Sobey Art Award will be announced May 26 and featured in an exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, starting in September.
The winner will be revealed at an evening celebration at the gallery on Nov. 14, the news release said.
The overall winner will receive $100,000, each of the five other shortlisted artists will get $25,000, and the remaining 24 longlisted artists each receive $10,000.
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