TORONTO, March 5, 2026 — The David Suzuki Foundation today announced 20 finalists for the 2026 Rewilding Arts Prize, a national award recognizing artists whose work explores renewed relationships between people, land, water and the living world.
From the Northwest Territories to the Maritimes, and working across disciplines including sculpture, installation, land-based practice, fibre, digital media and community-engaged art, the shortlisted artists reflect the many ways rewilding is being imagined and practised today.
“This shortlist shows how artists across Canada are responding to ecological change in deeply place-based and creative ways,” said Jode Roberts, manager of the David Suzuki Foundation’s Rewilding Communities program. “Together, their work reflects rewilding not as a single aesthetic but as a shared commitment to care, responsibility and imagination.”
The Rewilding Arts Prize received over 650 submissions from artists working in urban, rural and remote communities. The 16 shortlisted artists were selected by a national jury of eight artists — and previous Rewilding Arts Prize winners — based on artistic impact, relevance to rewilding, diversity of perspectives and creative spark.
“This was one of the hardest shortlisting processes I’ve been part of,” said juror Angela Marsh. “The response was overwhelming — not just in numbers, but in how creatively artists are already exploring rewilding themes. It was inspiring to see how many different practices are grappling with care, repair and our relationship to the natural world.”
The 20 shortlisted artists are:
- Carrie Allison – Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
- Bianca Shonee Arroyo-Kreimes – Montreal, Quebec
- Melanie Barnett – Medicine Hat, Alberta
- Ari Bayuaji – Montreal, Quebec
- Maria Ezcurra – Montreal, Quebec
- Lara Felsing – Edson, Alberta
- Jude Griebel – Calgary, Alberta
- Mbelo Hervé – Montreal, Quebec
- Richard Ibghy & Marilou Lemmens – Durham-Sud, Quebec
- Evan J – Victoria, British Columbia
- Elena Kirby & Masumi Rodriguez – Toronto, Ontario / Montreal, Quebec
- Nevada Lynn – Whistler, British Columbia
- JP Longboat – Elgin, Ontario
- Nicole McDonald-Fournier – Montreal, Quebec
- David McGregor – Beaverlodge, Alberta
- Emily Rose Michaud – Outaouais, Quebec
- Melaw Nakehk’o – Yellowknife, Northwest Territories
- Debra Frances Plett – Winnipeg, Manitoba
- Shaheen Salehi – Guelph, Ontario
- Xiaojing Yan – Markham, Ontario
The shortlist was adjudicated by eight of the winners of the first Rewilding Arts Prize, which were featured in a yearlong exhibition at the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa from 2024 to 2025. They include: Khadija Baker, Laara Cerman, Kendra Fanconi, Natasha Lavdovsky, Hashveenah Manoharan, Angela Marsh, Amber Sandy and Janice Wright Cheney.
Five artists from the shortlist will be named Rewilding Arts Prize winners on April 15, 2026.
– 30 –
For more information, please contact:
Stefanie Carmichael, David Suzuki Foundation: scarmichael@davidsuzuki.org, 437-221-4692
About the David Suzuki Foundation:
The David Suzuki Foundation (davidsuzuki.org) is a leading Canadian environmental non-profit organization. The Foundation has offices in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal. The Butterflyway Project is an award-winning national campaign to create pollinator habitat in communities throughout Canada.
About the Rewilding Arts Prize
The Rewilding Arts Prize is an initiative of the David Suzuki Foundation that showcases artists whose work helps reimagine and restore relationships between people and the living world. By supporting artists working at the intersection of art, ecology and culture, the prize aims to deepen public conversations about care, stewardship and ecological renewal. More info: davidsuzuki.org/artsprize