The Box Plymouth wins £120,000 Art Fund Museum of the Year 2026 Award
25 June 2026
The Box Plymouth has been announced as Art Fund Museum of the Year 2026. Victoria Pomery, CEO and members of the team were presented with the £120,000 prize – the largest museum prize in the world – by June Sarpong OBE, broadcaster and judge for Art Fund Museum of the Year 2026, at a ceremony aboard Cutty Sark in Greenwich.
Victoria Pomery, CEO at The Box Plymouth said:
We are absolutely ecstatic to have been named Art Fund Museum of the Year. This is a truly extraordinary moment for The Box, our partners and Plymouth. Since opening, our ambition has been to create a museum, gallery and archive that belongs to everyone and where people can connect with art, culture, history and engage with contemporary issues. This recognition is a huge honour, a powerful endorsement of what we have built together and the passion, dedication and hard work of all our staff and volunteers. We’re very proud to fly the flag for Plymouth and celebrate the city's rich cultural heritage on the national stage.
The Box Plymouth opened in September 2020 following a £48m capital investment. Determined to be ‘nationally known and locally loved’ it’s already had an impressive impact: welcoming more than 1.3 million visits, delivering over £100 million in health and wellbeing benefits in its first five years of operation and using Plymouth’s collections of more than two million artworks, objects, specimens, and archives to not only narrate the city’s past but also highlight a range of overlooked voices and histories.
In particular, the Art Fund Museum of the Year award recognised three artist-led projects that took place in 2025 and which expanded the gallery’s engagement with local communities and reframed its historic collections to challenge traditional museum narratives. Artist Osman Yousefzada transformed how The Box engaged with colonial histories with his When Will We Be Good Enough? exhibition (November 2024 – March 2025). Artist Jyll Bradley’s Running and Returning exhibition (April – November 2025) showed how artists can make archives accessible and personally meaningful. Jeremy Deller’s Hello Sailor! (July 2025), as part of The National Gallery’s Triumph of Art bicentenary celebration, brought collections into the public realm with spectacular joy.
The Box Plymouth was one of five finalists. The other shortlisted museums, all highly commended by the judges, are Fitzwilliam Museum (Cambridge), National Gallery (London), Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery (Norwich), V&A East Storehouse (London). Each finalist will receive £20,000. Together with £120,000 received by the winning museum, the total prize money for Art Fund Museum of the Year is £200,000.
The 2026 judging panel, chaired by Art Fund director Jenny Waldman, includes: Tony Butler OBE (Executive Director of Derby Museums), Alice Loxton (history broadcaster and author) and June Sarpong OBE (broadcaster, writer, and campaigner). The judges visited each of the finalists to inform their decision-making.
The prize is funded thanks to the generosity of Art Fund’s members who buy a National Art Pass. Pass holders enjoy discounts and benefits at The Box Plymouth and hundreds more across the UK, whilst also supporting Art Fund’s vital work championing and supporting museums.
Art Fund annually shortlists five outstanding museums for Museum of the Year. The 2026 edition recognises inspiring projects and activity from autumn 2024 through to winter 2025. In addition to looking at the overall achievements of the organisation, judges were tasked to evaluate museums who through unexpected, innovative and forward-thinking practices, are pushing the boundaries of what a museum is or can achieve.
Jenny Waldman, Director of Art Fund and chair of the judges for Art Fund Museum of the Year, said:
The Box is a revelation in so many ways - a true jewel in the crown of the South West. In just five years, it has transformed how Plymouth’s remarkable collections are shared and experienced, creating a welcoming space for visitors and reaching beyond its walls into public spaces and almost every school in the city. Its social and economic impact demonstrates what long-term investment in culture can achieve – and is recognised and championed by Plymouth City Council.
This summer offers a compelling invitation to visit - alongside its great collections you’ll find a major exhibition on Gillian Ayres, one of Britain’s most influential abstract painters, plus Echoes of Us, bringing together works from the Government Art Collection by artists including Barbara Hepworth and Chris Ofili. Huge congratulations to the whole team on winning Art Fund Museum of the Year 2026 – I know you’ll continue to bring joy and inspiration to the people of Plymouth and beyond for many years to come - and thank you to our supporters and National Art Pass members for making the prize possible.
Museums Minister, Baroness Twycross said:
I was delighted to visit The Box last week and see first-hand the incredible work being done to bring Plymouth's remarkable story to life. Winning Art Fund Museum of the Year 2026 is a truly deserved recognition of this. All of the finalists are outstanding examples of what museums can achieve when they are bold, innovative and deeply connected to the people they serve. The Box has become central to Plymouth's cultural life, inspiring the next generation by connecting with schools and communities across the region. This prize celebrates the very best of our nation's museums and I encourage everyone to visit one and experience that for themselves.