To celebrate its recent nomination for the Art Fund Prize 2012, the Scottish National Portrait Gallery will be holding a ‘Vote for Us’ Day on Thursday 15 March. The Art Fund Prize is the UK’s annual ‘museum of the year’ award, and the biggest prize for arts and cultural organisations in the country. The long list of ten galleries and museums was announced in February, and members of the public have been given the opportunity to influence the judges’ final decision by voicing their opinions in a special online forum on the Art Fund Prize website. A short list of four nominees is to be announced in May, before the annual £100,000 prize is awarded in June.
To encourage supporters of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery to have their say, Gallery staff will be highlighting the prize nomination between 10 am and 4 pm this Thursday. Visitors will be able to enjoy free cake from the Gallery’s hugely popular café and anyone who posts a comment on the Art Fund Prize forum will be entered into a draw to win an iPad 2. A selection of comments submitted will be published on the site and passed to the judges to consider. The forum and prize draw close at 11.59 pm on Sunday 22 April.
The Art Fund Prize rewards excellence and innovation in museums and galleries in the UK for a project completed or undertaken in the previous calendar year. The Scottish National Portrait Gallery reopened in December 2011, following a £17.6 million transformation—the first refurbishment in its 120-year history—and with an entirely new presentation of its world-famous collection, which offers a more vivid and engaging portrait of Scotland past and present.
Speaking of the nomination for the 2012 prize, John Leighton, Director-General of the National Galleries of Scotland, said: ‘The redevelopment of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery has given us the opportunity to do something very special, not only fulfilling, for the first time, the architect’s original vision for the world’s first purpose-built portrait gallery but also creating a unique opportunity to redefine what a portrait gallery is today. We have transformed the way we present our collection, offering a much more vivid and engaging portrait of Scotland past and present. We are extremely pleased and honoured to make the long list for the Art Fund Prize, which is hugely significant in making the public aware of the great things happening in museums and galleries across the UK.’
Two other museums in Scotland have been nominated for the 2012 prize: the National Museum of Scotland and the Riverside Museum, Scotland’s Museum of Transport and Travel – www.nationalgalleries.org