The Art Fund has announced the five finalists for the 2025 Museum of the Year award, the UK's most prestigious museum prize. The shortlist features major institutions that have recently completed significant expansions or refurbishments, including the V&A East Storehouse in Stratford, the National Gallery in London, The Box in Plymouth, the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, and Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery. The winner, to be announced on June 25, will receive £120,000, while the other finalists will each receive £20,000.
This year's selection highlights a trend toward radical accessibility and the reimagining of traditional institutional spaces. From the V&A’s open-access storage model to the National Gallery’s bicentenary outreach and Norwich Castle’s physical accessibility upgrades, the finalists reflect how UK museums are evolving to better serve local communities and engage with contemporary social dialogues. The inclusion of both massive capital projects and artist-led interventions like Glenn Ligon’s at the Fitzwilliam underscores the diverse ways museums are currently asserting their relevance in a challenging economic climate.