‘Expanding the idea of what a museum can be’: Museum of the Year finalists 11 May 2018

The Art Fund has published the shortlist for its annual Museum of the Year award, which offers a £100k prize. The five museums are:  

• The Brooklands Museum in Weybridge, which features the world’s first purpose-built motor racing circuit. An £8.4m development project has revived the site and allowed it to offer learning opportunities in science, engineering and technology.
• The Ferens Art Gallery, which completed a £5.2m refurbishment and complete rehang to be at the heart of Hull’s hugely successful year as City of Culture.
• Glasgow Women’s Library, which has grown from beginnings as a tiny shopfront with no funding or staff in 1991, to a refurbished permanent space with a lending library, a growing crowdsourced collection and community curators. Its visitors doubled during its 25th anniversary year.
• The Postal Museum, which has drawn 75,000 visitors since it opened last July and which includes a 15 minute ride on trains through London’s former underground postal delivery network.
• Tate St Ives, which opened a £20m underground extension during 2017, doubling its exhibition space.

  Art Fund Director Stephen Deuchar said that each of the museums tapped into ‘very current concerns’ and ‘expand the very idea of what a museum can be.’ The winner will be announced on 5th July. Art Fund, The Art Newspaper, Museums Journal, Hull Daily Mail, Glasgow Women’s Library, Telegraph (shortlist in pictures)