Tanya Willard is having an outstanding year.
The June news that she had been selected as a finalist for the 2025 Sobey Art Award in the Pacific must have seemed like the completion of a trifecta after the recent unveiling of two striking public works of art in Toronto: the Ancient Village Residence sculpture at York University and the Declaration of Subterranean History installation under the Gardiner Expressway.
But sometimes luck is more like a four-leaf clover. On Saturday at 9:15 p.m., the Sobey Art Foundation announced Willard as this year's grand prize winner.
PHOTOGRAPHY BILLE JEAN GABRIEL / CNW GROUP / NATIONAL GALLERY OF CANADA
Tanya Willard
The 48-year-old artist and curator, who lives on British Columbia's Neskonlith Reserve, is taking home what may be Canada's most prestigious fine arts prize, worth $100,000 and the attention of the international art world.
“I want to thank my community and nation, the Secwepemtz people, as well as all indigenous peoples for carrying our languages and knowledge, despite so many challenges that continue today – our culture is our strength. I also want to thank the land, all the lands that hold us,” she said in a press release.
“She picks berries for ink painting, uses wind and fire to compose poetry and opera, and builds worlds with her BUSH Gallery collaborators. In the face of instability, scarcity and conflict, her work offers a model of resilience, abundance and connection,” said Jonathan Shaughnessy, chair of the 2025 Sobey Prize jury and director of curatorial initiatives at the National Gallery of Canada.
The 2025 Sobey Awards are celebrated at the National Gallery, where visitors to the elegant event will also likely see the work of other finalists. They include Chukwudubem Ukaigwe, a graduate of the University of Manitoba's Bachelor of Fine Arts program representing the Prairie region.
The Nigerian-born artist, curator and writer, who is currently a graduate student at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, is perhaps best known for his paintings that combine elements of realism, pop art and surrealism.
Dave Chan, NGC Tanya Willard (center), winner of the 2025 Sobey Art Award, with Rob Sobey (from left), Chairman of the Sobey Art Foundation, Sobey Art Foundation Trustee Bernard Doucet, Director and CEO of the National Gallery of Canada Jean-François Belisle, Director of Curatorial Initiatives, Interim Senior Curator and Chairman of the Sobey Art Award 2025 Jury Jonathan Shaughnessy and Chairman of the Trustees Board of the National Gallery of Canada Paul Genest.
Along with the other remaining shortlisted artists – Tarralik Duffy, Sandra Brewster, Swapnaa Tamhane and Hangama Amiri – Ukaigwe receives $25,000.
Conrad Sweetman is an arts reporter and feature writer. Before you join Free press In 2024 he worked full-time in the cultural sector in the UK and Canada, freelancing for agencies such as Walrus, VICE And prairie fire. More about Conrad.
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