Publication_Information
ohpinamake 2025/26
March 25, 2026 - March 25, 2026
ohpinamake is a prize for Indigenous artists whose territories intersect with the current colonial borders of Canada. The artist chosen must clearly engage in a practice that ‘lifts others’. The jury comprised of KC Adams, Tarralik Duffy, and last year’s recipient, Audie Murray, selected the recipient and shortlisted artists. The fourth recipient of the annual ohpinamake Prize for Indigenous Artists is Catherine Blackburn! Please join us for the presentation of this year’s prize: Date: Wednesday, March 25th, 2026 These presentations are made possible through the University of Saskatchewan’s Fine Arts Research Lecture Series in Art & Art History. We would also like to express our congratulations and admiration to shortlisted artists Joely BigEagle-Kequahtooway and Michelle Sound.
Time: 3:00 - 5:00 PM CST
Location: University of Saskatchewan Convocation Hall (Peter MacKinnon Building, Room 120) or online via YouTube live stream.
The event will feature presentations by recipient Catherine Blackburn and shortlisted artist Joely BigEagle-Kequahtooway, as well as an award ceremony with donor Marian Knock. A celebratory reception will follow.
The event is free and open to the public.
Fourth Prize Recipient
We are excited to announce Catherine Blackburn as the fourth recipient of the ohpinamake award!
Catherine Blackburn, member of the English River First Nation (Dënesųłinë́), is a multidisciplinary artist and jeweller, whose common themes address Canada's colonial past that are often prompted by personal narratives. Her work grounds itself in the Indigenous feminine and is bound through the ancestral love that stitching suggests. Through stitchwork, she explores Indigenous sovereignty, decolonization and representation. Blackburn has exhibited in notable exhibitions including: Santa Fe Haute Couture Fashion Show, Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week, Radical Stitch and Àbadakone. She has received numerous awards for her work, including an Eitlejorg 2021 Fellowship, a 2022 Forge Residency Fellowship, and the Sobey Art Award longlist 2023.
ohpinamake is a prize for Indigenous artists whose territories intersect with the current colonial borders of Canada. The artist chosen must clearly engage in a practice that ‘lifts others’.
The award is made possible through the partnership of Jim Knock (BE ‘76) and Marian Knock with the University of Saskatchewan. This partnership was established with the express purpose of creating an award that acknowledges the unique capacity of art to bridge differences, but also to make things different. Please join Jim and Marian, following their exemplary leadership, to make this bold vision a reality by contributing to the fund here. We will continue to develop both the processes of application, adjudication, and the possible outcomes of ohpinamake as we head towards the fifth year.
KC Adams
KC Adams (Ininnew/Anishinaabe/British) is a registered Fisher River Cree Nation member living in Winnipeg. KC is a relational maker, educator, activist, and mentor who creates work that explores technology in relation to her Indigenous culture. Adams is nationally and internationally known maker with a B.F.A. from Concordia University and an M.A. in Cultural Studies, Curatorial Stream from the University of Winnipeg. KC has had numerous solo and group exhibitions, residencies and biennales. KC was awarded the Winnipeg Arts Council’s Making A Mark Award, Canada's Senate 150 medal, the Ohpinamake Award, and the Quill & Quire’s 2019 Books of the Year.
Tarralik Duffy
Tarralik Duffy is a writer, multidisciplinary artist and designer from Salliq (Coral Harbour), NU. Much of her visual work centres on contemporary Inuit culture; her fine jewellery line Ugly Fish regularly appears in fashion events and gallery shops across Canada. She is the winner of the 2021 Kenojuak Ashevak Memorial Award and is on the shortlist for the 2025 Sobey Art Award.
Audie Murray
Audie Murray is Cree-Métis from the Lebret and Meadow Lake communities, located on Treaty 4 and 6 territories, and is currently based in Oskana kâ-asastêki/Regina, Saskatchewan. Murray holds a visual arts diploma from Camosun College, 2016; a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Regina, 2017; and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Calgary, 2022. She has exhibited widely, including MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina; Remai Modern, Saskatoon; The Vancouver Art Gallery; Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow; and the Anchorage Museum. Murray is represented by Fazakas Gallery, located on Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, Səl̓ílwətaʔ, and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm territory (Vancouver, BC). Murray was Longlisted for the 2024 Sobey Art Award.
Shortlisted Artists
Michelle Sound is a Cree and Métis artist and mother. She is a member of Wapsewsipi Swan River First Nation in Treaty 8 Territory. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Simon Fraser University, School for the Contemporary Arts, and a Master of Applied Arts from Emily Carr University Art + Design. Public art pieces include a printed Transit mural (City of Edmonton) and a printed mural at the Canadian Embassy in Paris, France. Sound has exhibited nationally and internationally. Her work is held in the collections of the Indigenous Art Centre (CIRNAC), Forge Project NY, the McMichael Collection and the National Gallery of Canada. Sound has been longlisted for the Lind Photography Prize(2024) and the Sobey Art Award(2025).
