Art Fund Museum of the Year 2025: 'Inspiring' nominees all outside London
The nominees for the 2025 Art Fund Museum of the Year have been announced, with all five finalists being located outside of London for the first time in four years.Beamish, The Living Museum of the North in County Durham is up for the £120,000 prize-winning pot alongside Cardiff's Chapter and Compton Verney in Warwickshire.Belfast's Golden Thread Gallery and the Perth Museum in Perth and Kinross round off the shortlist.The winner will be announced on Thursday 26 June at a ceremony at the Museum of Liverpool, marking the first time the event has ever been held outside of the UK capital.
Art Fund director Jenny Waldman said that this year's finalists "are inspiring examples of museums at their best" and "deeply connected to their local communities, responsive to the world around them, and alive with energy and ideas.""Each one offers a distinctive experience, showing the endless creativity and care that goes into making museums inspiring and exciting spaces for everyone," she noted, speaking on behalf of the award judges.Let's take a closer look at the nominees for this year's prize, which are all now guaranteed to receive at least £15,000.
Beamish, The Living Museum of the North in County Durham is an open-air museum which reflects life in north east England in the 19th and 20th centuries.It brings Georgian, Edwardian and war-time history to life through immersive exhibits where visitors engage with costumed staff and volunteers.Judges praised Beamish for continuing its "long-standing commitment to preserving local heritage" and its "exceptional visitor experience".In the past year the museum has completed its Remaking Beamish project, which saw the recreation of a 1950s town developed with community input, as well as the opening of the aged miners' homes (AMH), which tells the story of welfare provision provided for retired miners.This year, as part of the National Railway 200 celebrations, it will also host the Festival of Transport (24 May-1 June).
Chapter is an international centre for contemporary arts in Cardiff, which includes a gallery, artists' studios, theatres and cinema screenings.In recent years, the centre has commissioned fourteen exhibitions by diverse international artists - including Adham Faramawy, Ntiense Eno-Amooquaye and Abi Palmer - which have explored themes from climate crisis to materiality. The Arts Fund noted how Chapter "continues to co-create exceptional programmes that enrich Cardiff's cultural landscape", from printmaking to music.It offers "pay what you can" pricing and free community tickets, and also recently introduced an artist residency programme with free studio space, and launched Wales' largest festival of deaf-led creative activity, Deaf Gathering Cymru.
Compton Verney in Warwickshire has six art collections, a sculpture park and café, set within a Grade I-listed 18th Century mansion.The gallery was described as "a vibrant cultural destination committed to making art accessible to all by connecting people with art, nature, and creativity".Last year, it unveiled its Sculpture in the Park exhibition featuring works by artists such as Sarah Lucas, Permindar Kaur, Larry Achiampong, Helen Chadwick and Erika Verzutti. The venue invites artists and communities to reimagine its 18th Century facade, and its exhibitions have also explored the legacies of the likes of Capability Brown, Louise Bourgeois and Chila Kumari Singh Burman.More than 6,000 schoolchildren have visited and participated in early creative projects, while recent initiatives have also included a monthly dementia café and an upcoming large-scale multimedia exhibition of work, reflecting on life and death, by Emma Talbot (5 July-5 October).The jury noted the museum's commitment to "breaking down barriers to cultural careers for young people with disabilities."
Contemporary arts space Golden Thread Gallery in Belfast features two large galleries, a community participation and engagement hub, and Northern Ireland's first visual art library and archive.After closing in 2023, the gallery reopened last year at a new Queen Street address in the city centre, presenting exhibitions by artists including Charlotte Bosanquet, Rob Hilken, Graham Fagen, Susan Hiller and Claire Morgan.Since reopening it has welcomed more than 23,000 visitors. The gallery partnered with Translink NI to help produce a public sculpture by Kevin Killen incorporating local narratives and community stories at the redeveloped York Street station.This summer it will host the video and photographic works of Sophie Calle with her exhibition Beyond the Gaze - Shared Perspectives (21 June-27 August).
Perth Museum serves as the new home of the Stone of Destiny, one of Scotland's most cherished treasures, which has returned to Perthshire after more than 700 years.The civic museum opened last year following a £27 million development at the former Perth City Hall, by Dutch architects Mecanoo, enabling it to tell the story of Scottish history.The Stone of Destiny experience uses immersive modern technology to frame the contested object within the story of the medieval boy king of Scotland, Alexander III.A new exhibition exploring the history and legacy of Macbeth is now underway (25 April-31 August 2025).The museum has been building partnerships with 10 primary schools, helping students, teachers and communities to connect with their heritage.Since its opening, Perth Museum has attracted around 250,000 visitors, boosting the local economy.
'Remarkable places'
The Art Fund is the national charity for museums and galleries.The last time its main prize shortlist totally overlooked London - where many of the nation's biggest museums were historically located - was in 2021, when the award was ultimately won by Firstsite in Colchester, Essex.Waldman added she hoped this year's award would "inspire" people to visit some "remarkable places" in their local region and help them "discover the powerful role they can play in our lives."Whichever one of the five museums wins will succeed last year's winner, the Young V&A in London.
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Wales Online
a day ago
- Wales Online
Hidden railway exposed by tide at popular Welsh beach
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In recent years, it's been occasionally exposed by shifting sand patterns on a coastline that's constantly evolving. The old railway tracks are thought to be a legacy of the resort's rapid expansion in the 19th century (Image: Sheila Rosemary Stephenson ) There have been several theories proposed to explain the existence of the railway. Some speculate it was an historic lifeboat launch site, while others suggest it was a ramp for bringing fishing ships ashore for repairs. As far as anyone knows, the tracks end at the low tide line, so disappointingly, they're unlikely to be part of a long-lost smuggling route from Ireland, as commonly supposed, reports North Wales Live. Article continues below It's often imagined that these narrow-gauge tracks were installed to move Edwardian bathing machines up and down the beach – the idea being to preserve the modesty of ladies taking to the waters. Historical sketches from the mid-19th century confirm that Barmouth did have these machines, but they were never on tracks. Instead, horses are depicted hauling the huts to the water's edge. Sketch by William Home Lizars from around 1845 showing the seafront in Barmouth and visiting families enjoying leisure time on the beach. Bathing machines can be seen lined up by the sea, drawn there by horses, not rail tracks (Image: National Library of Wales/Wiki ) A significant amount of construction was carried out on the beach after the resort's promenade was severely damaged by the Great Storm of 1928. Photos from the time show the entire seafront transformed into a massive building site, with steam-powered machinery doing much of the heavy lifting. In 1930, iron tracks were laid along the promenade to remove debris, and more on the beach for the construction of a new wave-return wall. A plausible conclusion is that the railway tracks seen today are remnants from that period of intense building activity. Read the biggest stories in Wales first by signing up to our daily newsletter here However, this theory has been dismissed by Barmouth historian Hugh Griffth Roberts, who believes there's a rather more mundane explanation. Ironically, the existence of the beach railway may owe much to the arrival of rail travel in the mid-19th century. For centuries, Barmouth was a crucial port serving the woollen, slate and herring sectors in Meirionnydd. It also had a ship-building industry that stretched up along the majestic Mawddach Estuary. A pair of rusting iron wheels poke up from the water's edge (Image: Sheila Rosemary Stephenson ) Despite the poor roads of the times, by the 1750s the port town was already attracting affluent tourists drawn by its location between the sea and the 'romantic' landscapes of Eryri. Visitors included the likes of William Wordsworth, Shelley, Byron and Charles Darwin. The unveiling of Cambrian Railways' new coastal line to Barmouth in 1867 significantly changed the town's fortune, with the Barmouth Heritage Trail highlighting a substantial tourism and building boom as a result. The heritage site states: "When the first train arrived some 1,200 passengers got off and the town was barely ready!" With tourism came fresh challenges, including increasing incidents of drunkenness that led to the construction of a modest lock-up during that period. A particularly unpleasant problem also arose — the disposal of waste from the burgeoning guesthouse industry. The heritage trail's solution to this issue involved the construction of a sewage holding tank at the north end of the beach in 1890. This allowed for waste to be released into the sea during high tide through a long cast-iron pipe. While discharging into the sea was common practice then and continues to some degree today, Barmouth modernised its wastewater management in 1987 by replacing and burying the old discharge pipe under the beach. Moreover, a new sewage treatment plant and pumping station were established. It is believed that rail tracks visible on the beach today were originally used for laying down the Victorian discharge pipe, which may have been left there to become buried over time, re-emerging more than a hundred years later. Article continues below
North Wales Live
2 days ago
- North Wales Live
Ghostly remains of mysterious beach railway vanishing into sea off North Wales
Low tides have revealed the ghostly remnants of a railway line running across a beach as if heading out to sea. In recent days, long-covered wheels and axles have emerged from the water alongside stretches of iron tracks now gently rusting on the sand. The scene, on Barmouth beach in Gwynedd, has echoes of the Welsh legend of the submerged kingdom of Cantre'r Gwaelod in Cardigan Bay. Unlike the kingdom's bells, said to be still ringing beneath the surface, Barmouth's mysterious beach railway remains eerily silent save for the sounds of the seashore. It is thought the track has stayed hidden on the beach for more than a century. In recent years, it's been occasionally exposed by shifting sand patterns on a coastline that's constantly evolving. Several theories have been put forward to explain the railway's existence. An historic lifeboat launch site has been speculated, along with a ramp site for bringing fishing ships ashore for repairs. As far as anyone knows, the tracks end at the low tide line and so, disappointingly, they're unlikely to be part of a long-lost smuggling route from Ireland, as commonly supposed. It's often imagined the narrow-gauge tracks were installed to move Edwardian bathing machines up and down the beach – the idea being to preserve the modesty of ladies taking to the waters. Sketches from the mid 19th century confirm Barmouth did have these machines but they were never on tracks. Instead, horses were depicted hauling the huts to the water's edge. A great deal of construction was carried out on the beach after the resort's promenade was badly damaged by the Great Storm of 1928. Photos from the time show the entire seafront was turned into a giant building site on which steam-powered machinery did much of the heavy lifting. In 1930, iron tracks were laid along the promenade to carry away debris, and more on the beach for the construction of a new wave-return wall. A reasonable conclusion is the railway tracks seen today are remnants from that period of frenzied building activity. It's a theory that's been rejected by Barmouth historian Hugh Griffth Roberts, who believes there's a rather more prosaic explanation. Ironically, the existence of the beach railway may owe much to arrival of rail travel in the mid 19th century. For centuries, Barmouth was an important port serving the woollen, slate and herring sectors in Meirionnydd. It also had a ship-building industry that stretched up along the majestic Mawddach Estuary. Despite the poor roads of the times, by the 1750s the port town was already luring well-heeled tourists attracted by its location between the sea and the 'romantic' landscapes of Eryri. Visitors included the likes of William Wordsworth, Shelley, Byron and Charles Darwin. When Cambrian Railways opened its new coastal line to Barmouth, in 1867, the town's fortunes shifted dramatically. According to the Barmouth Heritage Trail, it triggered major tourism and building booms. 'When the first train arrived some 1,200 passengers got off and the town was barely ready!' remarked the website. As well as tourism money, the influx of visitors brought problems – a small lock-up was built around this time to deal with growing numbers of drunks. Another issue even more distasteful – what to do with the growing mountains of poo being produced by the town's rapidly expanding guesthouse sector? Get all the latest Gwynedd news by signing up to our newsletter - sent every Tuesday The solution was a new sewage holding tank at the north end of the beach whose contents could be discharged into the sea at high tide. This was constructed in 1890, alongside a 150 metre-long, cast iron pipe leading across the beach. Discharging into the sea was the custom at the time and, sadly, to some extent, it still is. However Barmouth's old discharge pipe was replaced in 1987 and buried deep beneath the beach. A new sewerage plant and pumping station were built at the same time. It's now thought the rail tracks seen on the beach today were used to lay the Victorian discharge pipe. The tracks may have simply been left in place to disappear beneath the sands, emerging again more than a century later.
Daily Mirror
2 days ago
- Daily Mirror
Made In Chelsea icon slams men as she freezes eggs and vows to find sperm donor
Single Made In Chelsea star Sophie Hermann doesn't hold back as she reveals why she 'hates' dating apps - and has given herself a deadline before going it alone when it comes to motherhood Viewers of Made In Chelsea have watched Sophie Hermann 's ups and downs on her quest to find love since she joined the show a decade ago, which follows the lives of bright young things set in one of the most exclusive areas of London. Now 38 and single, the reality star, fashion designer and influencer, who lives in a beautiful Georgian home in London, exclusively tells OK! that she's putting herself out there on the dating apps. However, she is less than impressed with what she's found so far - and she's not alone in her opinion. 'It's really hard, you know, and I feel my girlfriends are successful, beautiful and strong women, but they are all single,' she says. 'Everyone is single! Men are not the same any more. It's not us – it's them. They are the problem. I also think London is not good for dating. It can be quite cut-throat'. She adds, 'I actually hate the dating apps, because it feels like a job interview when you're talking to a guy. I mean, honestly, I just can't believe how some of those people are on there, so I am just not going to date right now using any app. It's just not for me, unless I see someone truly amazing!' Sophie, who is originally from Munich in Germany, joined the posh E4 reality show in 2013, but took a three-year break, before stepping back on set for more high drama last year. Over those 12 years, she has seen a number of friends and castmates (and some enemies, most notably Maeva D'Ascanio) find love, get married and go on to have children. Sophie has been flexing her maternal muscles ever since two of her closest Made In Chelsea pals, Ollie and Gareth Locke, made her godmother to their twins, Ollie and Cosima, who were born prematurely via a surrogate in 2023. And with her milestone 40th birthday just two years away, Sophie tells us she has taken measures to give herself an 'insurance' policy, should someone fail to sweep her off her feet any time soon. She recently made the decision to freeze her eggs, and – delighted she took the plunge – has a clear message for other women in a similar situation. 'Please do it. It's not 100 per cent insurance but it is better than nothing. I am much more at ease. I don't stress myself so much with deadlines and dating. I recently turned 38, and I'm just two years away from the big 40 and I can't f*****g believe it. It gives me anxiety', she says. 'I did mine with Amilis Fertility Clinic in London. It's a women's fertility founded platform, where they vetted over 20 clinics in London. They are amazing! I had to give myself injections every day during the process and, although that didn't get any easier, I'm still glad I did it.' Sophie reveals that she managed to retrieve seven eggs from each ovary, but that the procedure was made more complicated than normal, due to doctors needing to remove a cyst. She adds, 'They say you need twenty eggs, but you don't. My friend also has seven, and I feel like I can clone them one day and have them forever.' Made In Chelsea initially aired in 2011, with a plenty of marriages and babies since that first season gripped viewers. Some of the most recent new arrivals include Tiffany Watson delivering her second son with husband Cameron McGeehan, and just last week, Jamie Laing and Sophie Habboo revealed they were expecting their first baby together, four years after tying the knot. Sophie, she says, looks beyond the exclusive SW3 postcode for inspirational stories about motherhood, with US socialite Paris Hilton being one of her favourites. 'She has been my role model since forever,' she admits. 'She has frozen her eggs a thousand times, and now she has a beautiful son and daughter.' While Sophie's frozen eggs give her some comfort, there is also the question of how to fertilise them, but she has a plan - sperm donors. 'I was actually looking into this with my friend the other week because she is considering doing this. Yet I discovered in the UK, that you can't find out what they [donors] look like. You can only see baby pictures, so I would probably go to America to do it. 'But I'm not there yet, or at the point where I would consider that. I feel like that's why I froze my eggs, so that I don't have to think about those questions right now. I wouldn't consider questions like that until I was 46 years plus – definitely not yet.' Meanwhile, although she may have sworn off the apps for now, the German beauty is clearly hopeful that love could be round the corner. As she confessed in January this year, 'I'm a hopeless romantic and I believe the more positive you stay, the more positive things happen to you'
