Martin Parr, the renowned British documentary photographer, has been commissioned to produce a portfolio of images of the shortlisted venues for The Art Fund Museum of the Year 2015, the national art fundraising charity has announced.
The £100,000 prize, the largest arts award in Britain and the biggest museum prize in the world, is now open for applications. Awarded to the museum or gallery in the UK that is deemed to have best demonstrated excellence, innovation and imagination, the 2014 prize was won by Yorkshire Sculpture Park.
The judges of the 2015 prize include Art Fund director Stephen Deuchar, the artist Michael Landy, design critic and author Alice Rawsthorn, director of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam Axel Rüger, and Fiammetta Rocco, books and arts editor of The Economist.
Parr will also be a judge of the Art Fund Prize for Museum of the Year national photography competition, which invites members of the public to submit their own photographs of the museums in question.
Groundbreaking work
“The Art Fund Prize for Museum of the Year is a showcase for the groundbreaking work that we see across the country each year,” said Deuchar. “This is an important opportunity to celebrate the best that British museums and galleries have to offer.”
Peter Murray, executive director of Yorkshire Sculpture Park, said that winning the award had increased visitor numbers and YSP’s profile. “These are challenging times but the prize is a wonderful recognition of our work and has given us the motivation and enthusiasm to continue to move forward.”
Other previous winners include London’s William Morris Gallery and British Museum, Belfast’s Ulster Museum, the Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh, and Staffordshire’s Wedgwood Museum.
The shortlisted museums will be revealed on Thursday 23 April 2015 and the overall winner will be named at a ceremony in the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern on 1 July 2015. The Art Fund Prize for Museum of the Year will also continue its partnership with VocalEyes, a charity that provides access to arts and heritage for blind and partially sighted people.
