A celebrated sculptor and environmental activist, Billy Gauthier grew up in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, NL and now lives in North West River, NL. In 2010 he had his first solo show at Spirit Wrestler Gallery in Vancouver, BC, which sold out within an hour. Nine years later, Gauthier was celebrated with the 2019 solo exhibition, Saunituinnaulungitotluni | Beyond Bone, at The Rooms in St. John’s, NL.

Watch Billy Gauthier talk about his practice and what being shortlisted means to him!

Maureen Gruben
An Inuvialuk artist raised in Tuktuuyaqtuuq (Tuktoyaktuk), Inuvialuit Settlement Region, NT, Maureen Gruben’s work sits at the intersection of installation, performance, textile and sculpture. She holds a BFA from the University of Victoria and has exhibited regularly across Canada and internationally. In 2019 Gruben was longlisted for the Aesthetica Art Prize and in 2021 for the Sobey Art Award.

Watch Maureen Gruben talk about her practice and what being shortlisted means to her!

A multidisciplinary artist from Ottawa, ON, Gayle Uyagaqi Kabloona works across media, including knitting, ceramics and prints. In 2022 Kabloona took part in an artist residency with the Art Gallery of Guelph in Ontario, worked with Google to create three Google Pixel wallpapers to celebrate World Indigenous Peoples’ Day. 

Watch Gayle Uyagaqi Kabloona talk about her practice and what being shortlisted means to her!

An Inuvialuk, urban-based artist currently living in Calgary, AB, Kablusiak's work pushes boundaries and celebrates individuality. They are longlisted for the 2023 Sobey Art Award and were previously shortlisted for the 2019 Sobey Art Award and the 2021 Kenojuak Ashevak Memorial Award. In 2022 they had two solo exhibitions: Party City (where you belong) at Norberg Hall and mitaaqtuaqtunga (no translation provided) at The Bows.

Watch Kablusiak talk about their practice and what being shortlisted mean to them!

A well-respected Inuk artist from Ikpiarjuk (Arctic Bay), NU with an illustrious career, Manasie Akpaliapik is recognized for his stylistic explorations of Inuit legends as well as contemporary social issues that threaten Inuit communities. His most recent accomplishments include being the subject of  the solo exhibition Manasie Akpaliapik. Inuit Universe. The Raymond Brousseau Collection at the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec. 

Best known as “Canada’s first Inuk classical singer,” Deantha Edmunds is an in-demand soloist and recording artist who performs on stages around the world. Born in St. John's, NL, Edmunds pays homage to the unique legacy of European music in coastal Labrador Inuit communities. In 2022 she released her third solo album, Connections, her first of all-original songs and she was recently named Music Newfoundland and Labrador’s 2022 Indigenous Artist of the Year.

An Indigiqueer animator, filmmaker and visual artist from Newfoundland now based in Montreal, QC, Glenn Gear’s filmmaking expertise has led to projects with the National Film Board of Canada and his films have screened in festivals throughout Canada and around the world. In 2021, Gear was included in the inaugural show, INUA, at the Winnipeg Art Gallery-Qaumajuq and that same year was longlisted for the Sobey Art Award. 

A textile artist and translator originally from Qamani’tuaq (Baker Lake), NU, now living in Ottawa, ON, Gloria Inugaq Putumiraqtuq describes her textiles as a visual history of Inuit land, traditions, resilience and cultural stories. She had her first solo exhibition at Feheley Fine Arts in Toronto, ON, in 2001 and in 2003 two of her works were acquired by the Canada Council Art Bank. Her works can be found in collections all across Canada. 

Born in Iqaluit, NU with ties to Kuujjuaq, QC, and now residing in Bowmanville, ON, Couzyn van Heuvelen works primarily in sculpture and installation and his practice is centred on themes of Inuit culture, identity. A graduate of the MFA program at NSCAD University, in 2018 he was longlisted for the Sobey Art Award and was shortlisted for the Kenojuak Ashevak Memorial Award in 2021.