In April this year the Contemporary Art Society launched a major Annual Award for museums. The winning museum will receive £60,000 to commission an artist to make a new work for their public collection of contemporary art.
The following six UK museums have been shortlisted, all are now in the running to receive the Award:
Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea
– with artist Cerith Wyn Evans
http://www.swansea.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=1394
Leeds Art Gallery (Leeds Museums and Galleries)
– with artist Claire Barclay
http://www.leeds.gov.uk/artgallery
Graves Art Gallery, Museums Sheffield
– with artist Katerina Šedá
http://www.museums-sheffield.org.uk/coresite/html/
Imperial War Museum London
– with artist Roddy Buchanan
http://www.iwm.org.uk/
Rugby Art Gallery and Museum
– with artist Stephen Sutcliffe
http://www.rugby.gov.uk/site/scripts/documents.php?categoryID=1020
Mead Gallery, University of Warwick
– with artist Nils Norman
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/art/
http://www.warwickartscentre.co.uk/
The selection panel comprises artists: Martin Boyce, Rosalind Nashashibi, Olivia Plender and is chaired by Director of the Contemporary Art Society, Paul Hobson.
Their role is to select a winner from the many excellent proposals submitted by public collections across the UK. So far they have established a shortlist of six that reflect a range of approaches to the priorities for the Award.
These include; to develop an outstanding new work from an artist who may be showing widely but who is not yet represented in public collections in this country, or whose work is an important fit with an existing collection. Each of the shortlisted museums will receive £1,000 to develop their 2nd stage proposals in more detail.
The deadline for the completed 2nd stage proposals is 30 October and the Award will be announced on 24 November 2009.
Over 50% of the population in the UK visit a museum at least once a year, and there is no doubt of the important cultural role museums play. The Contemporary Art Society’s Award is an opportunity for UK museums to work closely with a promising contemporary artist to develop a work that will have a lasting legacy. It is a vital opportunity for museums to make a significant investment for the future of their collections and to ensure that they are communicating their work fully with audiences.
The shortlist reveals the enormous breadth and value of the public collections of contemporary art held in galleries and museums across the UK.
The Award is generously supported by the Sfumato Foundation, and is the latest initiative from the Contemporary Art Society; a not-for-profit agency that supports contemporary artists by promoting the importance of collecting and commissioning by public and private bodies and individuals nationally within the broader international context for contemporary art.
Click here to download full press release (pdf).
For further information please contact Lucy Bayley, Curator of National Programmes on +44 (0)20 7831
3221 or email lucybayley@contemporaryartsociety.org