USask alumna selected for Sobey Art Award longlist

University of Saskatchewan (USask) alumna Catherine Blackburn (BFA’07) is included on the longlist of artists in the running for the prestigious 2019 Sobey Art Award, considered to be Canada’s preeminent contemporary art prize.

Blackburn, a member of the English River First Nation, is a multidisciplinary artist and jeweller. On April 16, 2019, the Sobey Art Foundation and the National Gallery of Canada announced Blackburn’s name along with the names of 24 other promising young Canadian visual artists featured on the longlist.

Nominated by leaders in arts communities from coast to coast to coast, the 25 artists will contend for a $100,000 grand prize. Each of the longlisted artists will receive $2,000, and three will be chosen for an international residency program ranging from three to six months. As well, one shortlisted artist will be selected by Fogo Island Arts to attend an annual residency.

The five shortlisted artists will be announced on June 12, 2019, and the international residency recipients will be revealed on Sept. 18, 2019. The Sobey Art Award finalists’ exhibition will be on view from Oct. 5, 2019, to Jan. 5, 2020, at the Art Gallery of Alberta in Edmonton.

The grand prize winner of the 2019 Sobey Art Award will be announced at a gala hosted by the Art Gallery of Alberta on Nov. 15, 2019. The Fogo Island Arts residency winner will be announced in the weeks following the gala.

Blackburn’s inclusion on the longlist follows the news last year that USask alumna Joi T. Arcand (BFA’05), from Muskeg Lake Cree Nation, was one of the shortlisted artists in the running for the 2018 Sobey Art Award. The grand prize in 2018 went to Kapwani Kiwanga, who was born in Hamilton and currently lives and works in Paris, France.

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