David Chipperfield's Hepworth Wakefield Museum and Herzog & de Meuron's Tate Modern have been listed among the finalists for the Art Fund Museum of the Year, which is the world’s biggest museum prize in UK. The Art Fund Museum of the Year rewards the best of museum of UK, honouring one outstanding institution with £100,000 prize, while the other finalists receive £10,000 in recognition of their achievements for the first time this year. 

This year's shortlist features five remarkable museums located in different parts of the UK including Lapworth Museum of Geology in Birmingham, National Heritage Centre for Horseracing & Sporting Art in Newmarket and Sir John Soane’s Museum in London as well as David Chipperfield's Hepworth Wakefield Museum in Wakefield and Herzog & de Meuron's Tate Modern in London. 

The judging panel for Museum of the Year 2017 consists of Professor Richard Deacon CBE, artist; Dr Hartwig Fischer, Director of the British Museum; Munira Mirza, arts and philanthropy advisor; Jo Whiley, radio DJ and television presenter; Stephen Deuchar CBE (chair of the judging panel), director of Art Fund.

The winning museum will be announced at a ceremony at the British Museum on Wednesday 5 July, 2017. 

"Each of these museums has had a remarkable year, reaching – in a range of ways – new heights in their efforts to serve and inspire their visitors, said Stephen Deuchar, chair of the judging panel and director of Art Fund.

"Whether unveiling new buildings, galleries, displays or public programmes, all the finalists have shown a real commitment to innovation and experimentation, offering fresh perspectives and new ways of seeing and understanding their collections."

Interior of David Chipperfield's Hepworth Wakefield Museum. Image courtesy of David Chipperfield Architects

The Hepworth by David Chipperfield in Wakefield

The £35 million building designed by David Chipperfield in 2003 and completed in 2011. The museum is comprised of ten grey trapezoidal boxes and each houses a room - has a stern beauty in perfect harmony with the surroundings. The gallery was nominated for the Art Fund Prize 2013.

"Celebrating its fifth anniversary in 2016, inside visitors will find an extensive but focused permanent collection of 20th-century art bought by the forward-thinking curators of Wakefield Art Gallery, which was set up in 1923, and is now supplemented with some exciting loans. At the heart of this core collection sit a large number of pieces by Barbara Hepworth herself, who grew up in the city, the daughter of an engineer."

"The museum launched a major new sculpture prize, expanded its learning and outreach activity, increased visitor numbers and strengthened its exhibition programme with a series of major retrospectives."

Outside view of the new Tate Modern. Image © Iwan Baan

Tate Modern by Herzog & de Meuron in London

"Originally the Tate collection was held at Millbank (now Tate Britain), but after the additions of Tate Liverpool in the 1980s and Tate St Ives in the 1990s, the decision was made to create a second London gallery specifically for modern and international art."

"In 1995, Swiss architects Herzog & De Meuron were commissioned to convert old Bankside Power Station for this purpose; their vision was structured around the building's original features – a magnificent turbine hall of 35 metres high and 152 metres long, as well as a boiler house and central chimney."

Hidden seating places are placed under the concrete staircase. Image © Iwan Baan

Last year, Tate Modern opened the new Switch House, hugely expanding the gallery’s exhibition space and education programme, while welcoming more than six million visitors to see their globally significant collections and exhibitions.

Herzog & De Meuron's ten-story extension was completed in 2016, increasing the size of Tate Modern by 60 per cent. "The gallery is now able to showcase more of its collection and offer dedicated spaces for performances of live art. It also boasts a viewing terrace with panoramic views across London."

The interior of The Lapworth Museum of Geology. Image courtesy of Real Studios

The Lapworth Museum of Geology in Birmingham

The Lapworth Museum of Geology is one of the well-known geological museums in the UK. The museum features the largest and finest geological collection in the Midlands. The museum's collections consists of over 250,000 specimens covering most aspects of the geological sciences, including palaeontology, mineralogy and petrology. In addition, the museum also features collections of scientific instruments, geological models, zoology, archaeology, and one of the most extensive and important geological archives in the UK.

Last year the museum completed its new expansion, transforming Lapworth from a niche academic institution into a dynamic, public-facing museum telling the story of the world’s four billion-year history, as noted The Art Fund.

National Heritage Centre for Horseracing & Sporting Art in Suffolk. Image courtesy of Lets Go With The Children

National Heritage Centre of Horseracing Sporting Art in Newmarket

"The National Heritage Centre for Horseracing and Sporting Art at Palace House in Newmarket combines three attractions in one: the National Horseracing Museum, the Fred Packard Museum and Galleries of British Sporting Art, and a flagship home for the Retraining of Racehorses charity."

"The museum holds a nationally and internationally significant collection of fine and decorative art, social history objects, archive material and photographs relating to the history and science of the sport and industry of horseracing, as well as BSAT’s collection of British sporting paintings, prints and sculpture."

In 2016, the centre re-opened with a major redevelopment project adding new galleries, exhibition spaces and a centre for the retraining of racehorses, right in the heart of the sport’s spiritual home.

Sir John Soane's Museum in London. Image courtesy of Soane

Sir John Soane's Museum in London

"The eminent architect Sir John Soane designed this house to live in, but also as a setting for his antiquities and works of art."

"Having been deeply disappointed by the conduct of his two sons, one of whom survived him, he determined to establish the house as a museum to which 'amateurs and students' should have access. The entire collection of this extraordinary museum is a Designated Collection of national importance. The house has been preserved as it was at the time of Soane's death in 1837."

The building involved a major restoration, the museum now looks like it did when Soane died in 1837. It has opened numerous new spaces, expanding their displays, increasing access and strengthening its contemporary exhibition programme.

This year The Art Fund Museum of the Year program is also asking visitors to the five finalists to share their best museum stories, reviews, photos, memories and moments on social media using #museumoftheyear. The best sharings will be featured on The Art Fund's page and will win a museum goody bag worth over £50. 

At the end of the nine weeks between now and the award ceremony on 5 July, the chair of the Art Fund Museum of the Year 2017 judging panel will choose his favourite from all the entries, with the winner receiving a lifetime National Art Pass worth £1,800 and a museum goody bag worth over £100.

The competition closes on 30 June at 11.59 pm, see details here before entering.

Top image: David Chipperfield's Hepworth Wakefield Museum. Image © Iwan Baan 

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