Museum of the Year facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

This page is about the annual prize awarded in the UK. For the Europe-wide award, see European Museum of the Year Award.

Quick facts for kids Art Fund Museum of the Year
Logo of the 2019 prize
Location	United Kingdom
First awarded	1973 (1973)

The Art Fund Museum of the Year Award is a special prize given out every year in the United Kingdom. It celebrates museums and art galleries that show amazing imagination, new ideas, and top-notch quality in their work.

This award is a really big deal! It gives the winning museum £100,000, which is the largest art prize in Britain and the biggest museum art prize anywhere in the world. Any museum or gallery in the UK, big or small, can win. The judges look for places that have done outstanding work, mostly in the year before the award.

Contents

History of the Award
- New Names for the Prize
- Award for Learning
Winners of the Award
Images for kids
See also

History of the Award

The Museum of the Year award started way back in 1973. It was first given out by a British charity called National Heritage. This continued until the year 2000.

In 2001, a new group called the Museum Prize Trust was created. Their goal was to make one big award. This new award would replace the original prize and three other awards given by different groups.

New Names for the Prize

The first version of this new, combined award was called the Gulbenkian Prize. It was first given out in 2003. The main supporter of this prize until 2007 was the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, which is based in Lisbon, Portugal.

After 2007, the Art Fund became the main sponsor. Because of this, the award's name changed to the Art Fund Prize in 2008.

In late 2012, the award got its current name: the Art Fund Museum of the Year. The first time it was given under this new name was in 2013.

Award for Learning

Since 2011, there has also been a special prize called the Clore Award for Museum Learning. This award gives £10,000 to museums that do a great job teaching children and young people (up to age 25). This includes learning activities both inside and outside of school.

For the first two years, this learning award had its own list of finalists. But since 2013, the winner of the Clore Award for Learning is chosen from the same list of finalists as the main Museum of the Year award. This main list grew from four to ten finalists that year.

Winners of the Award

Over the years, many different museums and galleries have won this important award. Here are some of the past winners:

National Heritage Museum of the Year (1973–2000) Winners

1973: Museum of Lakeland Life & Industry, Kendal
1974: National Motor Museum, Beaulieu
1975: Weald and Downland Open Air Museum, Singleton
1976: Gladstone Pottery Museum, Stoke-on-Trent
1977: Ironbridge Gorge Museum, Telford
1978: Erddig Hall, Wrexham and Museum of London
1979: Guernsey Museum and Art Gallery, Saint Peter Port
1980: Natural History Museum, London
1981: Hunday Farm Museum, Stocksfield
1982: Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent
1983: Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, Cultra
1984: Quarry Bank Mill, Styal
1985: Burrell Collection, Glasgow
1986: Beamish, The North of England Open Air Museum, County Durham
1987: Manchester Museum
1988: National Museum of Photography, Film and Television, Bradford
1989: National Portrait Gallery at Bodelwyddan Castle, Denbighshire
1990: Imperial War Museum, London and Museum of Science & Industry, Manchester
1991: National Railway Museum, York
1992: Manx National Museum, Douglas
1993: Jersey Museum and Art Gallery, St Helier and Jersey Maritime Museum, St Helier
1994: Tower Museum, Derry
1995: Ryedale Folk Museum, Hutton-le-Hole
1996: Buckinghamshire County Museum, Aylesbury and National Trust exhibition at Uppark, South Harting
1997: Waddesdon Manor, Buckinghamshire
1998: House of Manannan: Manx National Heritage, Peel and Jersey Maritime Museum, St Helier
1999: River and Rowing Museum, Henley-on-Thames
2000: British Museum, London

Gulbenkian Prize (2003–2007) Winners

2003: National Centre for Citizenship, Galleries of Justice, Nottingham
2004: Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh
2005: Big Pit National Coal Museum, Blaenavon
2006: SS Great Britain, Bristol
2007: Pallant House Gallery, Chichester

Art Fund Prize (2008–2012) Winners

2008: The Lightbox, Woking
2009: Wedgwood Museum, Stoke-on-Trent
2010: Ulster Museum, Belfast
2011: A History of the World in 100 Objects, British Museum, London
2012: Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter

Art Fund Museum of the Year (2013–) Winners

2013: William Morris Gallery, Walthamstow
2014: Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield
2015: Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester
2016: Victoria and Albert Museum, London
2017: The Hepworth Wakefield
2018: Tate St Ives
2019: St Fagans National Museum of History, Cardiff
2020: Aberdeen Art Gallery, Gairloch Museum, Science Museum, South London Gallery, Towner Eastbourne (five winners in this special year)
2021: Firstsite, Colchester
2022: Horniman Museum, London
2023: Burrell Collection, Glasgow

Images for kids

See also

List of awards for contributions to culture
European Museum of the Year Award
Europa Nostra
The Best in Heritage

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Museum of the Year Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.