New and Scottish museums dominate the 10 contenders on the longlist for this year’s £100,000 Art Fund Prize.
The list includes M Shed in Bristol, the Hepworth Wakefield, the Turner Contemporary in Margate and the Riverside Museum in Glasgow, which all opened in 2011. The National Museum of Scotland and the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, both in Edinburgh, are also up for the accolade.
The rest of the contenders are: Bletchley Park, Milton Keynes, for the Life and Works of Alan Turing; the Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter; the Holburne Museum, Bath; and the Watts Gallery, Surrey.
A shortlist of four museums will be announced on 14 May, with the winner revealed at a ceremony at the British Museum on 19 June.
This year’s Art Fund Prize, which rewards excellence and innovation for projects completed or undertaken in 2011, is being judged by a panel of experts chaired by former culture minister Chris Smith.
“The outstanding quality [of the longlisted projects] perfectly encapsulates the vitality and dynamism of a part of our nation’s cultural life that continues to innovate, push boundaries and engage the public, even in these straitened times,” he said.
Meanwhile, the longlist for the second Clore Award for Museum Learning has also been unveiled. It includes the Florence Nightingale Museum for Our Generation’s Reinterpretation and Penlee House Gallery and Museum for Treasures from the Earth.
The list includes M Shed in Bristol, the Hepworth Wakefield, the Turner Contemporary in Margate and the Riverside Museum in Glasgow, which all opened in 2011. The National Museum of Scotland and the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, both in Edinburgh, are also up for the accolade.
The rest of the contenders are: Bletchley Park, Milton Keynes, for the Life and Works of Alan Turing; the Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter; the Holburne Museum, Bath; and the Watts Gallery, Surrey.
A shortlist of four museums will be announced on 14 May, with the winner revealed at a ceremony at the British Museum on 19 June.
This year’s Art Fund Prize, which rewards excellence and innovation for projects completed or undertaken in 2011, is being judged by a panel of experts chaired by former culture minister Chris Smith.
“The outstanding quality [of the longlisted projects] perfectly encapsulates the vitality and dynamism of a part of our nation’s cultural life that continues to innovate, push boundaries and engage the public, even in these straitened times,” he said.
Meanwhile, the longlist for the second Clore Award for Museum Learning has also been unveiled. It includes the Florence Nightingale Museum for Our Generation’s Reinterpretation and Penlee House Gallery and Museum for Treasures from the Earth.
- see Chris Smith profile, p34
