Nico Williams is the winner of the 2024 Sobey Art Award

Nico Williams is the winner of the 2024 Sobey Art Award. The $100,000 honour is the largest prize in Canadian contemporary art. 

The winner was announced in Ottawa Saturday evening at the National Gallery of Canada (NGC), which presents the award in partnership with the Sobey Art Foundation.

"It's with immense gratitude to receive the 2024 Sobey Award," reads a statement from Williams. "Ten years ago, one of the most influential role models, Nadia Myre, received this prize. I want to send out the same message to all the bush kids out there, we are doing it! Also, I am extremely grateful to all the people who have stood behind my practice since the very beginning! I wouldn't be where I am today without you! Chi-miigwech!"

The artist from Aamjiwnaang First Nation who's based in Montreal was selected as the finalist to represent Quebec. Williams had previously been named to the award's long list in 2022. 

A statement from Jonathan Shaughnessy, the NGC's director of curatorial initiatives and chair of the 2024 Sobey Art Award jury, says:

"The jury felt compelled to recognize the undeniable energy and pertinence of Nico Williams' approach to contemporary sculptural beadwork that allows us to imagine new possibilities for the medium. His impeccably precise artworks transform everyday objects to the level of the spectacular and weave personal experiences into broadly relatable narratives. Working with and through community, Williams' practice challenges the persistence of colonial legacies through the surfacing of collective memory and shared nostalgias."

The five runners-up — Taqralik Partridge (Circumpolar), Mathieu Léger (Atlantic), June Clark (Ontario), Rhayne Vermette (Prairies) and Judy Chartrand (Pacific) — will each receive $25,000. An exhibition of work by all six finalists remains on view at the National Gallery of Canada through April 6, 2025. 

The nominees of the long list each receive $10,000.

First awarded in 2002, past winners of Canada's top art prize include Brian Jungen, Divya Mehra, Abbas Akhavan, Kapwani Kiwanga and Kablusiak, who won in 2023. 

With a total of $465,000 in prize money awarded to 30 artists, the Sobey Art Award is one of the world's largest monetary prizes for art.

Read our coverage of the Sobey Art Award, including Q&As with each of the six finalists. 

The Sobey Art Award exhibition continues at the National Gallery of Canada through April 6, 2025.