Applications for the UK Art Fund Museum of the Year Award 2023 are now open!
Art Fund Museum of the Year celebrates excellence and ingenuity across the UK museum and gallery sector.
Applications are now open across the UK for the Art Fund Museum Prize to recognizes outstanding work and projects, and provides a platform to encourage more visitors to engage with their local museums far and wide.
The deadline for applications is Thursday 19th January 2023.
Award Information
To mark 120 years of the Art Fund supporting museums, the winner’s prize money has been increased for 2023 and beyond to £120,000, with £15,000 going to each of the four other finalists, bringing the total prize money to £180,000. In addition, there is the opportunity to work more broadly with Art Fund during the prize campaign and beyond. It’s the perfect platform to shout about who you are and what you do, and they will support you through every step of the process.
What are they looking for?
o Art Fund recognises that museums and galleries across the UK have faced unprecedented challenges over the past couple of years. Yet they continue to adapt to a rapidly changing world with creativity and resilience. So, it is even more important to champion creativity, innovation and excellence.
o Through the prize the Art fund wants to acknowledge and celebrate the exceptional lengths museums go to in order to be welcoming spaces for everyone and create an environment to nurture professional talent – ensuring a sustainable model for the future.
Eligibility Criteria
o Art Fund are encouraging applications from museums, galleries and historic houses of all shapes and sizes across the UK, who can tell inspiring stories and demonstrate the positive impact their work has had on their visitors and organisations. They are especially keen to hear from those who have adapted their ways of working in any of these areas:
* Empowering audiences and communities.
* Building partnerships and networks in new ways, and
* Embedding sustainable ways of working in all its forms.
Applicants can tell the Art Fund about one or many projects that they undertook across the period of autumn 2021 through to winter 2022, which respond to any or all of the above areas.
Other Criteria
The form asks applicants to provide some information about their organisation, and answer three questions:
1. In what ways has your organisation adapted to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing world?
2. What positive impact has this had on your venue, organisation and audiences? Please note your answer here will be stronger if you can demonstrate this with tangible evidence, either through sharing data, impact reports or relevant case studies, along with your supporting material, and
3. What would being shortlisted for Art Fund Museum of the Year 2023 mean for your organisation?
To complete the application form, the following will also be required:
o A letter of support from your director or Chair confirming their wish for the organisation to be considered for Art Fund Museum of the Year 2023 and agreeing to our terms and conditions.
o Up to three (optional) pieces of additional supporting material to evidence your answers to the application questions.
o Up to eight pieces of supporting digital media (photographs, films, screenshots) that best illustrate your application. If you plan to include films, please do not send more than three, and they should have a total running length of no more than 10 minutes. If you plan to send PDFs, please limit this to two existing files.
For further information, please visit the Art Fund Museum Prize website.
