Art Fund Museum of the Year 2024
Applications open from 15 November 2023 to 15 January 2024
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Art Fund Museum of the Year is the world’s biggest museum prize. It champions what museums do, encourages more people to visit, and gets to the heart of what makes a great museum. The prize recognises and celebrates outstanding work and projects across UK museums and provides a platform to encourage audiences to engage with museums far and wide.
Every year an independent judging panel will shortlist five exceptional organisations and decide one outstanding winner to take home the £120,000 prize. The remaining four finalists will each receive £15,000.
All shortlisted museums also receive the support of Art Fund throughout the campaign, which includes national press coverage opportunities; bespoke marketing support and other exciting collaborations and partnerships to help you reach more audiences.
What are we looking for in 2025?
2025: The people who make you.
For the 2025 prize, in addition to looking at the overall achievements of your organisation, we are keen to hear about the wide range of people that make your achievements possible and bring your museum or gallery to life. How are you and your teams engaging and working alongside communities, families and younger visitors, artists and creatives, or those harder-to-reach visitors? What makes your approach impactful, inclusive and innovative?
We want to hear how you are doing this through the stories you and your teams tell across your exhibitions or displays, how you make your programme and buildings welcoming, and the role that your teams play in making great things happen.
We are interested in what you are doing in terms of specific projects, as well as what you are doing as a whole – how this makes you unique, and the best at what you do.
Who can apply
Key deadlines
How to apply
Your application
Read the guidance
Download the Guidance for applicants which explains more about the application process and gives you guidance on filling out the application form.
Get in touch
If you haven’t found what you need in the guidance document, get in touch with Emma Mills, project manager, programmes, on emills@artfund.org, to set up a call to discuss further.
Submit your application
If you are experiencing issues with uploading your application through your Art Fund account please note that we can accept your application via email. Please send your application, using the Word template along with any other materials to programmes@artfund.org using the subject line ‘Museum of the Year’.
Log in to your My Art Fund account, or create an account, for application forms and to apply. You must be registered as a professional user. If you already have a My Art Fund account, but are not registered as a professional user, you can add your professional details when logged in. We recommend that you work on your application using the Word template application form until you are ready to submit your application.
After you've applied
Acknowledgement of application
The prize project manager will be in touch to let you know the outcome of your application and the next steps.