(click on the underlined below to link to more information)

IN THE NEWS

Oluseye – Artist Prize 2026
Artwork by Oluseye is on the cover of Shameless:The Making of Black Gay Identities in LA by Terrell J. A. Winder and published by NYU Press.

Esmaa Mohamoud – Artist Prize 2019
Congratulations to Esmaa Mohamoud on being longlisted for the Hnatyshyn Foundation 2026 Mid – Career Awards for Excellence in Visual Arts and Curatorial Excellence! 

Sandra Brewster – Artist Prize 2018
Blur, a work by Sandra Brewster is on the cover of Mark Sealy’s book A Lens on Liberation: Photography as Resistance published by Lawrence & Wishart.

Lotus L. Kang – Artist Prize 2015
Congratulations to Lotus L Kang, who has been shortlisted for the 2026 Sobey Art Award!

Abbas Akhaven – Artist Prize 2012 
Momus: The Podcast Season 9 Episode 5 featured an interview with Abbas Akhavan, in which he reflected on institutional pressure, artistic refusal, and describing art as “a rehearsal, not re-enactment.”

IN AND AROUND TORONTO:

Christina Leslie – Artist Prize 2026
From June 25 to October 25, 2026, Christina Leslie will have a solo exhibition The Album at the Maclaren Art Centre in Barrie.

Oluseye – Artist Prize 2026
Queer Asynchronies, a group exhibition at United Contemporary on until July 25, 2026 includes work by Oluseye.

Isabel Okoro – Artist Prize 2024
Sameer Farooq – Artist Prize 2022
Sandra Brewster – Artist Prize 2018
Hanna Traore Gallery, NYC is presenting a group exhibition Love Letter of the work of 16 Toronto artists who live and work in Toronto, including Sandra Brewster, Sameer Farooq and Isabel Okoro until July 25, 2026.

Maria Hupfield – Artist Prize 2023
Together with Jason Lujan, Maria Hupfield is presenting a new collaborative exhibition at Campbell House Museum, bringing
contemporary art perspectives into one of Toronto’s landmark historic spaces from July 4 to August 22, 2026.

Lisa Steele – Founders Achievement Award 2023 
Lisa Steele is one of the artists whose work is being shown in Both Sides Now, a group exhibition at Daniel Faria Gallery from July 2 – August 22, 2026.

Sameer Farooq – Artist Prize 2022
On June 5, 2026 Sameer Farooq and curator Dan Hicks engaged in a discussion with host Tandazani Dhlakama on new ways of building and exhibiting collections, at the North York Central Library as part of their Salon Series.

David Liss – Founders Achievement Award 2015   
Until July 19, 2026 at Koffler Arts is Don’t Look Back, a special group exhibition celebrating the 65th anniversary of the Toronto Outdoor Art Fair, the long-running open-access hub for art, culture, commerce, and social interaction held in the city’s most prominent public square.  This exhibition is curated by David Liss.

Edward Burtynsky – Founders Achievement Award 2008
Congratulations to Edward Burtynsky who will be one of two honourees at the 2026 ROM Immortal Gala: Forces of Nature which will take place on November 2, 2026. Burtynsky has works in the group exhibition The Great Outdoors at Metivier Gallery from July 11 – August 8, 2026.

Derek Sullivan – Artist Prize 2007
In an exhibition at Susan Hobbs Gallery until July 4, 2026, Derek Sullivanand Ella Gonzales present works made over the last year that respond to the gallery, and to a shared familiarity with it and considers vessels, containers, and the spaces we inhabit.

FOR TRAVELLERS: 

Elsewhere in Canada 

Couzyn van Heuvelen – Artist Prize 2024
At the Art Gallery of Guelph until August 30, 2026 is an exhibition Camp of work by Couzyn van Heuvelen whose  artistic practice explores Inuit cultural sovereignty and the tools and technologies of living on the land. A group exhibition Lure at Evergreen Arts in Coquitlam, BC, on until August 23, 2026, wherein the artists explore the complex social and cultural significance of the ancient yet everyday activity of fishing includes a work by van Heuvelen.

Alvin Luong – Artist Prize 2023
The work of Alvin Luong is being shown at Access Gallery, Vancouver until July 29, 2026 is Before I Was Coral, I Was a Refugee which centres around the waypoint of Bidong Island, Malaysia, a refugee camp that became the most densely populated place on earth in the fallout of the Vietnam-America War.

Edward Burtynsky – Founders Achievement Award 2008
At Paul Kyle Gallery, Vancouver is a solo exhibition of works by Edward Burtynsky Burtynsky:Human/Nature until August 1, 2026 which features works from the early 1990s to the present. This exhibition was favourably reviewed in Artnet.com in an article How Edward Burtynsky Captures Humanity’s Uneasy Relationship With Nature.

South of the Border

Lotus L. Kang – Artist Prize 2015
A solo exhibition, I hear the hollow boom time by Lotus L. Kang is at the Frye Art Museum in Seattle until September 27, 2026. As her largest museum exhibition to date, she presents two major new installations alongside a series of works on paper.

International Travellers

Alvin Luong – Artist Prize 2023
If you are in London this Summer, you might find the Backyard Biennial: East, an 8-week, free, summer arts festival initiated by Whitechapel Gallery in collaboration with more than 40 local partners across East London of interest. Alvin Luong is one of the participating artists, and is on from July 15 until September 6, 2026 at various locations.

Rouzbeh Akhbari – Artist Prize 2021
Crossings: Kaleh Ziyarat, Rouzbeh Akhbari’s first feature length film will have its world premiere at the Marseilles Film Festival in July 2026.

Tau Lewis – Artist Prize 2019
A sculpture by Tau Lewis Saint Mozelle is currently on view in an ongoing exhibition Performer and Participant at the Tate Modern in London, UK.

Sandra Brewster – Artist Prize 2018
Take a Little Trip, 2021 by Sandra Brewster is currently on view at the 9th Triennial of Photography Hamburg 2026 until September 22, 2026.

Nadia Belerique – Artist Prize 2015
LOTA, a solo exhibition by Nadia Belerique, at opbo studio in Piraeus, Athens is on until July 11, 2026.

Dean Baldwin – Artist Prize 2010
Hombre, a socially constructed immersive space by Dean Baldwin featuring local bread, wine and cheese, transformed a venue in Venice into an intimate space of conversation and connection to celebrate Abbas Akhavan at the Canadian Pavillion at the Venice Biennial preview week.

Of Interest 

A study from University College London has found that participating in arts, like painting or going to the theater, can help slow biological aging.

Among the books shortlisted for Women’s Prize for Non-fiction in the UK awarded recently was Daisy Fancourt’s Art Cure: The Science of How the Arts Transform Our Health. She was interviewed by Ben Luke on the June 2026 edition of The Week in Art Podcast. The book is well worth a read and the podcast, well worth a listen!

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Please contact us at externalrelations@TFVA.ca for any prize winners in the news to include in future newsletters.  Please follow us on Instagram.