This week, the shortlist was announced for the 2021 Art Fund Museum of Year Prize – the world’s largest museum prize.
The shortlisted museums are:
Centre for Contemporary Art Derry~Londonderry (Derry~Londonderry, Northern Ireland)
Experience Barnsley (Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England)
Firstsite (Colchester, Essex, England)
Thackray Museum of Medicine (Leeds, West Yorkshire, England)
Timespan (Helmsdale, Sutherland, Scotland)
Art Fund annually shortlists five outstanding museums for the Museum of the Year prize. The 2021 edition reflects the resilience and imagination of museums throughout the pandemic. At this moment of museums re-opening and starting their recovery, the 2021 prize highlights and rewards the extraordinary and innovative ways in which museums have, over the past year, served and connected with their communities, even when they have had to close their physical spaces.
The winning museum will be announced at a ceremony in the week commencing 20 September and will receive £100,000. The other four shortlisted museums will each receive £15,000 in recognition of their achievements.
The members of this year’s judging panel, chaired by Art Fund Director Jenny Waldman, are: Maria Balshaw, director of Tate and chair of the National Museum Directors’ Council; Edith Bowman, broadcaster; Katrina Brown, director of The Common Guild and Art Fund trustee; Suhair Khan, strategic projects lead at Google; and artist Thomas J Price. The judges will visit each of the finalists to help inform their decision-making, while each museum will make the most of being shortlisted over the summer through special events and activities for both new and current visitors.
Speaking on behalf of the judges, Jenny Waldman, Director, Art Fund said:
“Art Fund Museum of the Year 2021 attracted a flood of applications and it has been incredible to see what museums, galleries and historic houses across the UK have achieved, overcoming the challenges of the past year. Their resilience is nothing short of heroic.”
“Our five finalists are all deeply embedded in their communities and alive to the possibilities of reaching far beyond their locality digitally. They have each shown extraordinary innovation and resolve. I would encourage everyone to visit them if they possibly can – in person or online – or make a beeline to a museum close to you this summer.”
Previous winners of the Museum of the Year Prize are:
2008
The Lightbox, Woking
2009
Wedgwood Museum, Stoke-on-Trent
2010
Ulster Museum, Belfast
2011
British Museum, London
2012
Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter
2013
William Morris Gallery, London
2014
Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield
2015
Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester
2016
Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), London
2017
The Hepworth, Wakefield
2018
2019
St Fagans National Museum of History, Cardiff
In a unique edition of the prize in 2020, Art Fund responded to the unprecedented challenges that all museums faced by sharing the prize money equally between five winners: Aberdeen Art Gallery, Gairloch Museum, Science Museum, South London Gallery and Towner Eastbourne.
Steve Smith, Managing Director of Smith Greenfield, said:
“This has been an extraordinary and hugely challenging time for the museum sector, but it has resulted in wonderful innovations. Congratulations to the shortlisted museums and we look forward to hearing more from the judges over the coming weeks.”
Smith Greenfield is an independent insurance broker specialising in museum insurance, collections insurance, historic buildings insurance and heritage buildings insurance. Please contact Steve Smith at steve.smith@smithgreenfield.co.uk or telephone 020 8603 3730 if you would like further information.
Photo: Experience Barnsley is a finalist for the 2021 Art Fund Museum of Year Prize © Marc Atkins