Four finalists will receive £20,000 each, an increase of £5,000, bringing total prize money to £200,000.
Art Fund has opened entries for its ‘Museum of the Year’ programme, which will see one museum, gallery, historic house, library or archive awarded £120,000.
The programme will recognise work and projects between autumn 2024 and winter 2025.
For the 2026 edition of the prize, Art und said in addition to looking at the overall achievements of the shortlisted organisations, its judges will also evaluate museums “who through unexpected, innovative and forward-thinking practices, are pushing the boundaries of what a museum is or can achieve”.
Winners of Art Fund Museum of the Year 2013 - 2025:
2025 – Beamish, The Living Museum of the North
2024 – Young V&A, London
2023 – The Burrell Collection, Glasgow
2022 – Horniman Museum and Gardens, London
2021 – Firstsite, Colchester
2020 – Aberdeen Art Gallery; Gairloch Museum; Science Museum; South London Gallery; and Towner Eastbourne.
2019 – St Fagans National Museum of History, Cardiff
2018 – Tate St Ives
2017 – The Hepworth, Wakefield
2016 – Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), London
2015 – Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester
2014 – Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield
2013 – William Morris Gallery, London
Winners of The Art Fund Prize 2008 – 2012:
2012 – Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter
2011 – British Museum
2010 – Ulster Museum, Belfast
2009 – Wedgwood Museum, Stoke-on-Trent
2008 – The Lightbox, Woking
A further £20,000 will be given to each of the four other finalists, an increase of £5,000 for each museum, bringing the total prize money to £200,000.
A shortlist of five museums will be announced in April 2026 and the winner will be revealed on 25 June at an award ceremony at Cutty Sark in London.
Jenny Waldman, Art Fund director and Art Fund Museum of the Year chair of judges, said, “As we open applications for the 13th year, we’re excited to hear from museums of all sizes, in every corner of the country, who are pushing boundaries and redefining what a museum can be.”
Art Fund Museum of the Year 2025 was awarded to Beamish, The Living Museum of the North in Yorkshire.
‘Living Museum of the North’ wins Art Fund’s Museum of the Year
Rhiannon Hiles, chief executive of Beamish, was presented with the £120,000 prize by the comedian and a judge of the prize Phil Wang at a ceremony at the Museum of Liverpool. Hiles said: “The prize money will bring a real impact, allowing us to invest in our health and wellbeing programmes, and in our people, as well as widen access to learning activities.”
