Call for Submissions: 2026 Emerging Digital Artists Award

EQ Bank is pleased to launch the 12th edition of the Emerging Digital Artists Award (EDAA), Canada's award for critical experimentation in digital media.

Artists within the first seven years of their professional careers are encouraged to apply. We welcome submissions of screen-based works that are not only created with digital technologies, but also speak to the concerns, ethics, and constructs of virtual space and their production.

The 2026 EDAA includes

• Five $5,000 prizes
• Participation in a group exhibition at Gallery TPW, Toronto, in January 2027
• An annual subscription to BlackFlash Magazine (both print and online) and an annual subscription to Pilot Art List

Additionally:

• For one recipient, a funded opportunity to produce a commissioned artwork for exhibition at the MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina, in 2027-28
• For one recipient, a funded opportunity to produce an Artist Project in the Fall 2027 issue of BlackFlash Magazine, both print and online

Submit your work to one of five categories

• Still Image: A single image or series of images created through digital processes such as generative imagery, scanning technology, photo manipulation, illustration graphics, or renders of 3D models or virtual worlds.
• Moving Image: A time-based work using digital processes in its creation, including but not limited to video, animation, machinima, and GIF art.
• Screen-Based Interactive: An interactive artwork experienced on a digital display, computer, tablet, or mobile phone such as game art and web art.
• Extended Reality (XR): A virtual, augmented, or mixed reality work experienced through a smartphone, tablet, or headset, or as a 360-degree video.
• Digital Installation: A multi-component, primarily screen-based work produced and presented with digital technologies that engages audiences in physical space.

Apply now by following these steps

• Read full details on How to Apply, including the Terms and Conditions
• When ready, fill out the online application with your artwork submission along with an artist statement, a short artist biography, and artist CV

Applicant Eligibility

To be eligible, you'll need to be:

• A resident of Canada
• At least 18 years of age
• An emerging artist

We consider an emerging artist to be someone within the first seven years of their professional career, beginning with their first solo or group exhibition outside of an academic context (ex. a thesis show) in a museum, public or commercial gallery, or artist-run centre. Game developers and designers working in art / alt / experimental games, and web designers working in experimental, non-commercial web projects are also encouraged to apply.

Applicants are not required to be current students or to have completed a degree in Fine Arts. We encourage all emerging artists matching our definition to apply.

Artwork Eligibility

To be eligible for consideration, the artwork must:

• Take the form of 'Digital Art', defined here as a screen-based artwork that demonstrates an engagement with digital technologies in the process of its creation. Analogue processes may be part of the work's production, but the output must be digital. Digital documentation of traditional media will not be considered
• Rely on the digital to exist, taking advantage of and experimenting with its immaterial qualities, and have a visual component (i.e. it cannot solely be sound-based). For entries with audio, applicants must either own copyright or have permission to use and credit accordingly
• Be submitted as a complete work (in progress artworks, teaser reels, or project proposals will not be considered)
• Be dated no earlier than five years prior to the submission deadline. Only one work per applicant can be considered

Assessment Criteria

Submissions are assessed under five main criteria:

1. Relevance
2. Technique
3. Aesthetics
4. Concept
5. Originality

About the Emerging Digital Artists Award

The Emerging Digital Artists Award is Canada's major award for critical experimentation in digital media, proudly presented by EQ Bank. Established in 2015, the EDAA has awarded over $175,000 to 60 artists and celebrated a range of screen-based practices including video, animation, virtual reality, game art, and web art.

About EQ Bank

EQ Bank is Canada's Challenger Bank™. Guided by our purpose to drive change in Canadian banking and enrich people's lives, we firmly believe that progress requires challenging outdated norms.

All submissions are reviewed by a panel of judges (the Judging Panel), consisting of four external advisors who have based their practices in Canada and have demonstrated considerable knowledge of digital art, and one representative from Equitable Bank, who determine the five winners of the award. Submitted artwork is evaluated on originality, disciplinary relevance, technique, aesthetics, and concept. It is at the discretion of the Judging Panel whether or not submitted work can be considered Digital Art for the purposes of this award.

The Judging Panel's determination is final and no correspondence pertaining to the review process or the Judges' determination will be entered into.