We’re a finalist for Art Fund Museum of the Year 2025!
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We’re proud to be a finalist for Art Fund Museum of the Year 2025 – the largest museum prize in the world – alongside Compton Verney (Warwickshire), Golden Thread Gallery (Belfast) and Perth Museum (Perth & Kinross).
Congratulations to Beamish, The Living Museum of the North (County Durham) on their well-deserved win.
“Being shortlisted for the UK’s largest museum prize is only possible because of the brilliant and dedicated people who make us – our communities, colleagues, volunteers, artists and collaborators. We thank them all for their commitment, energy and creativity.
Museums and arts centres are spaces of joy and imagination and we need them now, more than ever. They’re places that nurture connections to help us reflect on our histories, make sense of the present and imagine radical futures.
This approach has been at the centre of our story for 55 years and we hope will continue to inspire audiences for years to come.”
The 2025 judging panel, chaired by Art Fund director Jenny Waldman, includes: Rana Begum (Artist), Dr David Dibosa (Director of Research and Interpretation, Tate), Jane Richardson (Chief Executive, Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales) and Phil Wang (Comedian, Writer, Actor). The judges visited each of the finalists to inform their decision-making.
The prize is funded thanks to the generosity of Art Fund’s members who buy a National Art Pass. Pass holders enjoy discounts and benefits at the finalist museums and hundreds more across the UK, whilst also supporting Art Fund’s vital work championing and supporting museums.
Art Fund annually shortlists five outstanding museums for Museum of the Year. The 2025 edition recognises inspiring projects and activity from autumn 2023 through to winter 2024. In addition to looking at the overall achievements of the organisation, the judges are tasked with identifying impactful projects that spotlight the wide range of remarkable people, including museum staff and volunteers, who bring museums to life by engaging with communities, families and younger visitors, artists and creatives.