Art Fund Museum of the Year 2024
Applications open from 15 November 2023 to 15 January 2024
Sign up to our Museum Bulletin for arts professionals to be the first to hear about new funding opportunities from Art Fund.
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 organisation and decide one lucky 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 2024?
Leading in excellence, making an impact and demonstrating ambition.
We invite museums to apply for outstanding and inspiring projects and programmes, with audiences and communities at the heart of them. You need to tell us why this makes your museum unique and the best at what you do.
We are particularly interested to hear how you are leading across these following areas:
Community engagement, and how this is embedded across your collections or programming in an inclusive and accessible way,
making an impact and preparing for a lasting legacy through sustainable ways of working,
and demonstrating ambition by reinventing what it means to be ‘the best’ museum for the audiences of today and tomorrow.
You could apply with one or several projects that took place across the period of autumn 2022 through to winter 2023.
Think your museum is a worthy contender for the coveted prize? Watch our webinar recording to learn more about the application process and what would happen if you were shortlisted.
Submitting 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’.
This year marked 10 years of Art Fund Museum of the Year - read the findings of new research that looks back at the impact of the prize, and forward to the challenges and opportunities of the coming decade.
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.