Artist and curator Tania Willard named to shortlist for 2025 Sobey Art Award

Six finalists are up for Canada’s largest award for contemporary visual arts

Tania Willard. Photo by Billie Jean Gabriel

A LOCAL ARTIST and curator who centres art as an act of Indigenous resurgence has made it to the shortlist for the Sobey Art Award—not only the largest prize for contemporary artists in Canada, but one of the biggest funded prizes of its kind in the world.

Tania Willard, a mixed Secwépemc and settler artist, draws on connections to land, culture, language revitalization, and family, working though collaborative projects such as BUSH Gallery.

Her artistic and curatorial exhibitions include Beat Nation: Art, Hip Hop and Aboriginal Culture at the Vancouver Art Gallery in 2012 and Exposure: Native Art and Political Ecology at the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts in Santa Fe in 2021. Willard’s work is featured in collections of such institutions as the VAG, Forge Project, the Kamloops Art Gallery, and the Anchorage Museum.

Willard is the shortlisted nominee from the Pacific region. Other shortlisted members are Tarralik Duffy for the Circumpolar region; Chukwudubem Ukaigwe for the Prairies; Sandra Brewster for Ontario; Swapnaa Tamhane for Quebec; and Hangama Amiri for the Atlantic region.

The Sobey Art Award grants $465,000 in prize money, including the $100,000 grand prize. Each of the shortlisted artists receives $25,000 and the remaining longlisted artists receive $10,000.

The winner of the award will be announced at a special celebration on November 8, with an exhibition featuring works by the six shortlisted artists held at the National Gallery from October 3 to February 8, 2026.

Tania Willard’s *Surrounded/Surrounding with Woodpile Score*, 2018. Wood-burning fire ring, laser-etched leather, wood and vinyl transfer, dimensions variable. Installation view, Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, University of British Columbia. © Tania Willard. Photo by Rachel Topham

Featured

Janet Smith

Janet Smith is cofounder and editorial director of Stir. She is an award-winning arts journalist who has spent more than two decades immersed in Vancouver’s dance, screen, design, theatre, music, opera, and gallery scenes. She sits on the Vancouver Film Critics’ Circle.

Articles

Neon Superstitions lights up THIS Gallery with glowing signs and quiet spirits, to July 12

Liang Wang’s paintings and drawings capture beliefs and rituals that tie in closely to Vancouver’s Chinatown

The Coast Mountains: Recent Works by Edward Burtynsky is at the Audain Art Museum to September 15

Photo-based exhibition showcases the intersection of beauty and environmental crisis

10 and 10: Story of Stories sparks reflections on evolution for Surrey Art Gallery's 50th anniversary

Dana Claxton, Lyse Lemieux, and more artists are featured in the exhibition that pairs works from 1975–1985 with pieces from 2014–2024

Stir Cheat Sheet: 3 ways to get your design on at West Coast Modern Week

An exhibit dedicated to Patkau Architects, a film about Arthur Erickson, and a jazz concert round out the celebration

The Polygon Gallery explores humanity on a cosmic scale with Star Witnesses

Curator Monika Szewczyk has put together a globe-spanning and symbolically rich look into the night sky

Just-released book The Place of Objects captures the extensive collection of John David Lawrence

Publication with corresponding Vancouver Art Gallery exhibition highlights the rich stories and cultural importance of B.C.’s art scene

Astro Arts Festival set to bring celebration of murals and graffiti art back to Mount Pleasant

In the spirit of the cancelled Vancouver Mural Festival, a new creative hub announces its first block party August 8 to 10

Museum of Vancouver hosts Future Makers: Chairs by New Designers starting June 20

Exhibition in partnership with Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s Wilson School of Design features chairs made from decades-old mahogany

Major Bob Rennie donation sends 40 Rodney Graham works to National Gallery of Canada

Vancouver businessman and philanthropist gifts $22.8 million in art to the Ottawa landmark

Queer Arts Festival opens Portals for emerging artists and contrasting journeys

With its complex searches for identity, the celebratory exhibition at Centre A reflects the unifying theme of QAF’s latest edition

Deep-Seated Histories: Chairs from the Collection launches at the Museum of Vancouver, June 20

From lifeguard Joe Fortes’s lounge spot to a Woodward’s “Dollar Forty-Nine Day” break-room chair, every piece of furniture tells a story

Eastside Arts Festival announces program with expanded concerts and its largest number of art-making workshops yet

The main event hits MacLean Park July 26, with shows at the Rickshaw, Dance Deck offerings, walking tours, and brewery passes

New exhibition Golden Hour illuminates the Burnaby Art Gallery, June 13 to August 31

Curated by the entire gallery team, artworks investigate the cyclical nature of day and night

Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre celebrates ever-evolving tradition for National Indigenous History Month

Through everything from guided tours to artist workshops, SLCC programming honours vital Indigenous heritage and creativity

Stir Cheat Sheet: 5 performers and painters to seek out among the flowers and trees at Arts in the Garden

This final edition of North Van Arts’ long-running annual event features engaging music and glowing images, all in serene outdoor settings

Artist and curator Tania Willard named to shortlist for 2025 Sobey Art Award

Six finalists are up for Canada’s largest award for contemporary visual arts

The Work of Repair: Redress and Repatriation at the Museum of Vancouver opens June 20

Exhibition digs into the institution’s efforts towards decolonization and connection with Indigenous communities

Firestarters crackles with work by Indigenous artists who defy categorization, at Fazakas Gallery to July 26

Audie Murray and Zoe Ann Cardinal Cire wield everything from glass beads to firewood and cast-iron pans in an exhibit that ignites new ways of seeing

Artist studios and sacred spaces among the stops at this year’s Doors Open Richmond

The 18th annual edition of the wide-ranging event builds thriving community by emphasizing historical and cultural diversity

Vancouver Art Gallery’s Written in Clay explores meaning of collecting, with new show and book about John David Lawrence

Long-time Vancouverite shares some of his staggeringly massive collection of B.C. ceramics, on display and in the pages of The Place of Objects

Otani Workshop’s Monsters in My Head transcends cuteness at the VAG

In Japanese ceramicist and painter Shigeru Otani’s work, adorable bunnies and sea monsters tell deeper truths

The True Story of Tamara De Lempicka & The Art of Survival digs beneath Art Deco painter’s glossy surfaces

Julie Rubio’s extensive new documentary, making its local debut at the VIFF Centre, reveals a trailblazing woman who was an outsider on several counts

$Annie Briard: Refracted Fields is now on view at Surrey Art Gallery's offsite UrbanScreen venue$

Annie Briard: Refracted Fields is now on view at Surrey Art Gallery's offsite UrbanScreen venue

Kaleidoscopic projection reveals natural elements, from the grand vistas of the Coast Mountains to close-up images of roadside plants

Pelts, placards, and megaphones, as VALUE: Rebecca Belmore at the Museum of Anthropology disrupts display spaces

Famous works like Wild and Fountain create conversations about museum collections and the land they sit on

Queer Arts Festival steps into the future with 18th annual edition, June 6 to 28

Centred around portals, this year’s just-announced lineup includes several visual-art exhibitions, Vancouver International Jazz Festival concerts, and more

Surrey Art Gallery hosts an all-ages Family Art Party, June 1

Event inspired by the current exhibition A Tangled Thicket features hands-on art activities and a theatrical performance

Doors Open Richmond returns for its 18th annual edition, June 7 and 8

At Richmond Museum event, visitors can explore over 50 partner sites, ranging from Seawrack Press Studio to LuLu Island Winery

Book review: Rodney DeCroo's Night Moves focuses on the passing mysteries of city's sidewalks

With this gritty collection of street photographs, the Vancouver songwriter, poet, and playwright opens a new chapter in his hard-won life as an artist

Hong Kong Exile tunes into celestial stories at the Vancouver Art Gallery, May 15

As part of Asian Heritage Month, the gallery’s first performers-in-residence use old-school radios and headlamps in a new piece that fuses dance, multimedia, and theatre