Since its inception in 2015, the Salt Spring National Art Prize (SSNAP) has grown in engagement and reach, recognizing and nurturing artistic creativity and originality in Canadian visual arts. The inaugural Salt Spring National Art Prize was held on Salt Spring Island from September through October 2015. Subsequent exhibitions were held in 2017 and 2019, and 2021. In July 2020, the governance and operations of SSNAP were transferred to a new Not-for-Profit Society – the Salt Spring National Art Prize Society. In 2021, the SSNAP Society was afforded charitable status by the Canadian Revenue Agency.

 The purposes of the SSNAP Society are:

1. To advance public appreciation of Canadian visual arts by producing public exhibitions of high-quality art.
2. To provide a venue for artists to exhibit and present their work selected on the basis of artistic merit.
3. To recognize, promote and reward excellence in the visual arts by awarding a national prize; providing artist-in-residence opportunities; and exposing the public to examples of high-quality works.

4.   To advance education in the visual arts through public workshops and seminars, including opportunities to publicly exhibit work; youth-oriented student activities; and artist-in-residence opportunities.

The SSNAP Society manages a biennial juried open competition focused on Canadian contemporary visual arts. From an annual intake of over 2,000 submissions, approximately 50 artworks are accepted for the core national exhibition as determined by an independent jury of four eminent Canadian artists, curators and collectors.   

A second exhibition – a “Parallel Show” – was introduced in 2017.  As of 2021, an independent jury separate from that for the SSNAP exhibition, selects approximately 50 works from among the SSNAP entries produced by residents of the Gulf Islands for a 3-week exhibition running in parallel with the core SSNAP exhibition. This show recognizes and celebrates the artistic creativity and originality of local artists in a diversity of artistic genre.