Yorkshire Sculpture Park has been announced 2014 Museum of Year. The prize, which is presented each year by national fundraising charity the Art Fund, celebrates museums and galleries across the UK.
The Wakefield museum was chosen ahead of other high profile spaces including Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft in East Sussex, Hayward Gallery in London, Mary Rose Museum in Portsmouth, Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts in Norwich, and Tate Britain in London. The award was made during a ceremony at the National Gallery in London.
Art Fund Director Stephen Deuchar, said: “The Yorkshire Sculpture Park has gone from modest beginnings to one of the finest outdoor museums one might ever imagine. It is a perfect fusion of art and landscape.”
Highlights from the museum’s programme over the last 12 months include an exhibition by Yinka Shonibare and the conversion of the park’s chapel to house (as its inaugural exhibition) a major new work by Ai Weiwei.
The 2014 judges who visited each of the nominated sites were Sally Bacon (director of the Clore Duffield Foundation), Michael Craig-Martin RA (artist), Wim Pijbes (director of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam), and Anna Somers Cocks (chief executive of The Art Newspaper).
Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes, who presented the award, said: “The dedication, love and unbelievable creativity of the six candidates for the Art Fund Prize for Museum of the Year are clear for all to see, as is the creative health of the UK museum community as a whole.”
