VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
The Art Fund, an organization that raises money to help British arts institutions acquire works and maintain their collections, has given its annual Museum of the Year award to the Hepworth Wakefield in West Yorkshire. The prize, which comes with £100,000 (about $129,000), recognizes an outstanding museum based in the United Kingdom. Previous winners include the Victoria & Albert Museum, the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, and the British Museum.
In a statement, the Art Fund explained that the Hepworth Wakefield was named the award’s winner in part because of a 21-percent rise in attendance in 2016. Last year, the museum also initiated its sculpture prize and staged major shows of work by Martin Parr and Stanley Spencer.
In a statement, Stephen Deuchar, the Art Fund’s director, said, “The Hepworth Wakefield has been a powerful force of energy from the moment it opened in 2011, but it has just kept growing in reach and impact ever since. David Chipperfield’s building has proved a perfect stage—both for the display of collections and as a platform for a breathtaking sequence of special exhibitions, curated with determined originality by the talented curatorial team.”
Also shortlisted for the prize were the Lapworth Museum of Geology, the National Heritage Centre for Horseracing & Sporting Art, Sir John Soane’s Museum, and Tate Modern.