The Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Art Gallery (RAMM) in Exeter, Devon, has won the £100,000 Art Fund Prize for its “magical” £24m makeover.
The local authority museum beat the Hepworth Wakefield in West Yorkshire, the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh and the Watts Gallery near Guildford, Surrey, to the accolade of Museum of the Year.
Former culture secretary Chris Smith, chairman of the judges, said: “The new museum is quite simply a magical place. The Victorian aspirations to bring the world to Exeter are stunningly realised through some of the most intelligently considered displays on view in any museum in the UK.”
The result was announced at a ceremony at the British Museum, which won the award last year.
Leicestershire County Council Heritage and Arts Service and Whitworth Art Gallery were jointly awarded the £10,000 Clore Award for Museum Learning.
Sally Bacon, co-chair of the Clore Award for Museum Learning, said: “The two award recipients are game- changers in the field of museum learning. Both have identified core young target groups and have worked closely with them to transform their experiences of art and collections.”
The local authority museum beat the Hepworth Wakefield in West Yorkshire, the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh and the Watts Gallery near Guildford, Surrey, to the accolade of Museum of the Year.
Former culture secretary Chris Smith, chairman of the judges, said: “The new museum is quite simply a magical place. The Victorian aspirations to bring the world to Exeter are stunningly realised through some of the most intelligently considered displays on view in any museum in the UK.”
The result was announced at a ceremony at the British Museum, which won the award last year.
Leicestershire County Council Heritage and Arts Service and Whitworth Art Gallery were jointly awarded the £10,000 Clore Award for Museum Learning.
Sally Bacon, co-chair of the Clore Award for Museum Learning, said: “The two award recipients are game- changers in the field of museum learning. Both have identified core young target groups and have worked closely with them to transform their experiences of art and collections.”
